Jasprit Bumrah, Indian pacer was praised by former Australian skipper batsman Allan Border for his phenomenal rise in international cricket globally in a short time period.
Allan Border made this observation during a discussion on the Cricket Network about the Indian pacer’s excellent returns in the few Test matches he has played.
Jasprit Bumrah’s Rise Through The Ranks Is Incredible: Allan Border
The pacer debuted in tests in 2018 after debuting in limited-overs in 2016 has played only 14 tests till date but already picked 68 scalps averaging 20.33 with as many as 5 five-wicket hauls.
Allan Border pointed out that Jasprit Bumrah has become a force to reckon with in cricketing world after being initially noticed through his performances in the IPL. He has 109 wickets in 92 matches since debuting in 2013. He picked 27 wickets in 15 games averaging 14.96 becoming 2nd highest wicket-taker in IPL 2020.
“It’s incredible, his rise through the ranks just out of probably IPL. It started there and he has just taken the world of cricket by storm,” Allan Border said.
The 1987 World Cup-winning skipper observed that there was a common notion that his unconventional action would make him injury prone. Still, the Gujarat pacer hasn’t suffered any major injuries till date.
After performing brilliantly for India in 2019 World Cup, he was sidelined with a stress fracture in his back after India’s tour of the West Indies in August 2019. This injury ruled him out of the remainder of matches last year. In January 2020 he made his comeback to cricket after a long absence of four months.
“He has an unusual action, everyone thought he is going to struggle with injuries and things like that. He has had a little bit of a niggle of late,” he added.
Allan Border highlighted that Jasprit Bumrah is able to generate extreme rapid pace almost at 140 kmph mark despite having an unorthodox action. He praised the Indian coaches for not altering his natural action.
“He is the real deal, isn’t he. He just has the awkward action but he bowls at good pace, so not the classical way of doing things. It is very much an Indian thing really, they just let the kids develop their own styles,” Allan Border further said.
The batsman observed that the rise of Indian fast bowling had given India currently many wins in pressure situations, holding India in good stead. Pacers like Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or even T Natarajan have picked a spot in India’s squad after good performances in IPL.
Jasprit Bumrah Can Get Serious Pace Too: Allan Border
He reasoned that opposition teams who have quality pacers in the squad could no longer take advantage of the Indian deficiencies in pace department by preparing seamer-friendly pitches.
“India really needed to develop some fast bowlers, didn’t they. Every time they toured anywhere, they were presented with grassy pitches, pace-friendly pitches. So the days of playing three or four spinners are long gone.”
Allan Border concluded by mentioning the fact that Jasprit Bumrah can generate considerable pace despite his approach to the bowling crease.
“Bumrah is an interesting one, because he has the shuffling run-up to the crease and really just explodes out of the hand. He can get some serious pace too, he can go to 140-plus.”
Jasprit Bumrah, who was initially regarded as a white-ball specialist, picking more than 100 wickets in ODIs, has proved that he is invaluable in the longest format of the game as well. The 27-year old has scalped 68 wickets in just the fourteen Test matches he has played, at an exceptional average of 20.33. He has 59 wickets in 50 T20I matches.
Fastest Indian pacer to 50 test wickets (by innings):-
21 – Jasprit Bumrah
24 – Mohammed Shami
27 – Kapil Dev, Ramakant Desai, Sreesanth