Anil Kumble working with Team India on no-ball problem: Jasprit Bumrah

Bengaluru: Team India medium-pacer Jasprit Bumrah revealed on the eve of India’s third and final T20I against England that coach Anil Kumble has been working with the team on reducing the number of no-balls in the first two T20s.

India have had a difficult time in the two T20Is, where England have mostly dominated the proceedings. Much to the frustration of the Indian cricket team fans, no-balls have been a big problem for the hosts during the three-match T20I series.

Bumrah had knocked over Joe Root’s stumps in two consecutive deliveries in the first T20, only for the first ball to be called a no-ball, while the second was a free-hit. Meanwhile, spinner Amit Mishra overstepped in a delivery disturbed the dangerous Ben Stokes’ stumps.

When asked about the no-ball problem, Bumrah said, “I’ve been working on that Anil (Kumble) sir in the last match as well. Before that also (he said) ‘measure your run-up, work something out with the tape. We are working on that, and hopefully we can control that as well.”

The medium pacer churned-in a brilliant performance in the second T20I against England, where he gave away only 20 runs from his quota of four overs, picking up two wickets in the process.

The penultimate over of the game, off which England needed just eight runs, was an exhibition of calm nerves, as Bumrah gave away only two runs and picked up the wickets of set batsman Joe Root and the explosive Jos Buttler.

Senior bowler Ashish Nehra was seen giving advice to Bumrah during the second T20. when asked about Nehra’s influence on him, Bumrah said that the 37-year-old often chips-in with his inputs.

“He’s always been helpful. I’ve played a few matches with him, and his guidance is always valuable,” said Bumrah. “He’s played a lot of international cricket. He has a lot of experience to share with us. In tough situations he helps us, (he tells us) that ‘you can do this or according to the wicket you can do that’.”

Although India are known to be a good fielding side, their fielding in the T20 series has not exactly caught the imagination of many. However, Bumrah revealed that the dew factor made it difficult for the fielders.

“Its always difficult when there’s dew. In the last match there was a lot of dew. It always gets difficult as the ball comes at a faster pace than you expect it to,” he said.

“The high catches are also difficult because the ball is wet. We are working hard on our fielding and we’ve been doing well in the one-day series as well.”