There is no doubt that Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah is one of the finest bowlers in modern-day cricket. His uncommon action, fierce speed, ability to deliver inch-perfect yorkers with a mixture of unplayable slower balls has made him a classy bowler.
Bumrah, who debuted in the 2016 India tour of Australia, has disclosed how the former Indian captain MS Dhoni’s advice helped him to perform well in his first game.
In a talk show with Cricbuzz, Bumrah said he wasn’t sure that he would play.
“Sydney debut was my first international game, so after a lot of hard work, finally you get the call. The day I reached, there was a practice. But it didn’t happen because it rained. So I thought now I wouldn’t play because the team doesn’t know what to do. They don’t know how I play, how I bowl. So, now it won’t happen,” said the Ahemadabad-born.
The right-armer also revealed he was scared and nervous ahead of his international career’s first game.
“On the next day, early morning of the matchday, when I went to the team meeting, then Ravi Shastri, who was the team director at that time. So he asked me, are you fresh, are you ready? I said, I’m fresh, but for what? So he said, you have to play. I was scared at that time, like how it is normally in a match,” Bumrah added.
“I thought the players would help me through it, but nobody came up to me, nobody said anything. I was feeling like something will come up, some instruction, something. Nothing, no one came to me or said anything. The warm-up finished, the toss was done, everything was ready. But just before going in, MS came up and said just be yourself and enjoy,” the 26-year-old added further.
In his inaugural game, Bumrah bowled 30 dot balls in his quota of ten overs and bagged two scalps for 40, which included the prized wicket of Steve Smith.
