Rare in Indian Tests, a pacer was named Player of the Match with Ishant Sharma in 2019. Jasprit Bumrah joined this elite list in the recent Visakhapatnam Test against England, securing the accolade by claiming nine crucial wickets, contributing significantly to India’s 106-run victory.
Bumrah’s exceptional performance unfolded with a six-wicket haul in England’s first innings and an additional three dismissals in the second. His precision in line and length drew praise, with a particularly lauded yorker that dismissed Ollie Pope, showcasing Bumrah’s mastery. Reflecting on this, the Ahmedabad-born cricketer attributed his yorker expertise to learning from legends like Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, and Zaheer Khan.
Jasprit Bumrah post-match said: “As a youngster that (the yorker) is probably the first delivery I had learned because I had come from tennis ball cricket and I had seen the legends of the game, Waqar (Younis), Wasim (Akram) and even Zaheer Khan, I had seen them on the television, how do they bowl yorkers.”
“As a kid, I used to feel that is the only way to take wickets. So that is the first delivery I learned. Yes, I kept it with me and I kept on using it to my advantage and now even in Test cricket when you get wickets off it, it’s great”
India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma, expressed immense satisfaction with Bumrah’s contributions, referring to him as a “champion player” and acknowledging the luxury of having such a talent in the squad. Rohit commended the batters for their resilience in challenging conditions and highlighted the bowlers’ timely excellence, emphasizing Bumrah’s pivotal role in India’s success against England in Visakhapatnam.
Rohit sharma lauded Bumrah by saying: “Yeah, it is (a luxury to have Bumrah). I mean, look, you know, he’s a champion player for us. It’s been a while, you know, that he’s doing the job for the team. But yeah, I mean, when you win a game like that, you know, you’ve got to look at the overall performance as well. We were good with the bat and then obviously we know that winning a Test match in these kind of conditions is not going to be easy. We wanted our bowlers to step up and they did that.”
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