After years of search, the Indian team finally found a world-class death over specialist in Jasprit Bumrah.
The credit of Bumrah’s discovery must be attributed to Mumbai Indians (MI). The IPL giants backed the Baroda speedster’s abilities and helped him nurture into an international bowler, blossoming under veteran Lasith Malinga.
Shortly after a few seasons with MI, Bumrah made his international debut during India’s tour of Australia in 2015.
Since then, Bumrah has grown leaps and bounds in stature with both new ball as well as the old one. He also reached the summit of ICC rankings for bowlers in white-ball cricket.
The Indian team management and selectors did not delay his Test debut by giving him an opportunity in the whites during the 2018 South Africa tour.
Bumrah’s attacking line and lengths coupled with his wicket-taking abilities with the red-ball helped him gain recognition as a world-class bowler across all formats.
Much like Malinga, his success at the highest level can be attributed to the unorthodox action. Now, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has opined that Bumrah’s illustrious career won’t be long-lasting due to his action.
“Bumrah has a difficult action. He cannot play in all formats. It is his braveness that he showed his skills in Test matches. He is a very hard working guy and is very focused. He knows where he wants to go,” Akhtar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
Further, Akhtar went on to reveal that he predicted Bumrah’s breakdown while watching the latter operate.
“But will his back support him? Till when will his back withstand that much load. It had to break down. I was watching his matches before he broke down. I was telling my friends that he will break down,” he said.
During the 2020 New Zealand tour, Bumrah made an unimpressive comeback to international cricket, post-long-layoff due to an injury.
Bumrah will be looking to regain his form during the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), donning the MI jersey.
