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India’s premier death bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, during his recent no-holds-barred interview for Cricbuzz’s WebSeries Spicy Pitch, credited his success at the international level to former India and Mumbai Indians’ coach John Wright.
In the 20-minute long-interview, Bumrah took the fans through his journey from being a naïve 19-year-old kid to becoming a superstar in the modern generation of cricketers.
While doing so, he went on to attribute his career in cricket taking shape, during its formative years to the former New Zealand international.
The 26-year-old revealed that it was during his playing days for Gujarat when the Kiwi spotted his talent, albeit, by accident.
The Mumbai Indian’s ex-coach wished to see how his boys held up during the Gujarat-Mumbai fixture of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and ended up scouting a rare talent in Bumrah.
“I always give a lot of credit to him. I tell him I’m here because of you. So we were playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He had come to see us play against Mumbai. Many players from the Mumbai squad were already there in Mumbai Indians. He had come there to see them. He saw me and thought there’s something different,” Bumrah told host Manish Batavia.
Further, Bumrah disclosed that seasoned Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel, who also had been part of Mumbai Indians’ squad, enquired about him, looking at his talent.
“After the first game, he spoke to Parthiv Patel. He told me he was asking about you. I said, please don’t tease me, I’ve only played 1-2 games, and you’re already joking about me. You always think that all of these things will happen, but you don’t expect that they will happen to you,” the Mumbai Indians’ star bowler continued.
Couldn’t even do a pushup before: Bumrah
One of the only three men who were retained by MI before the auctions in 2018, Bumrah commended Wright for his influence building his fitness regime.
Furthermore, Bumrah conceded the fact that his interactions with the former coach helped him grow from being a novice cricketer to an international star.
“When I came into the side, I was a 19-year old kid. I was skillful but had no sense of professionalism, no training, no idea about my diet either. I couldn’t even do a pushup. He was always behind my back so that I could be in shape. So I said, why am I doing this? I can bowl no? So he said, ‘No, you have to be professional’,” the popularly acclaimed ‘yorker-king’ asserted.
Bumrah is the only bowler now to hold an A+ contract from the BCCI. The Ahmedabad born-pacer has been sensational in all formats of the game since making his international debut in 2015 against Australia.
“I was very lucky to work with him, he has an eye for talent. He has worked with so many Mumbai Indian players who ended up playing for their country. It was good with him, still keep in touch with him,” concluded Jasprit Bumrah on John Wright.
