Jasprit Bumrah made headlines in 2013 after dismissing AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in the same encounter. The Gujarat born’s unique action made him a threat to many batsmen in the world. The fast bowler made his Test debut for India nearly two years after making his ODI and T20 debut. He recently featured for India in the 2019 ICC World Cup.
India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun recently recalled how Bumrah made it to the longest format of the game. Arun said that it was India head coach Ravi Shastri who wanted Bumrah in the Indian Test side. He also cleared that he does not hold any credit for Bumrah’s selection in the Indian team.
Shastri wanted Bumrah – Bharat Arun
“It is very unfair to say that I am the one who picked Bumrah for Tests. In all fairness, it was Ravi Shastri who really wanted Bumrah.”, recalled Arun during a Facebook Live interview with Sportskeeda.
Bumrah, an experienced campaigner with Mumbai Indians had played over 30 ODIs and T20s before getting called up in the test side. Initially, everyone had doubts whether with the divergent bowling action if Bumrah can be used in the test arena. But right before the South Africa tour, on Shastri’s command, Bharat Arun informed Bumrah that he could be making his test debut in the series.
“I think it was after a match in Kolkata, before the South Africa tour, Ravi Shastri felt that Bumrah would be extremely effective. He was really impressed with him. He wanted me to call him up and tell him that. It was about two months before the South Africa tour. He wanted me to call up Bumrah and tell him that he was most likely to tour South Africa with the Test team,” Arun said.
When Arun informed Bumrah about the possibility of making his debut, the pacer said that he’s up for the challenge. The youngster was keen to break peoples perception about him being a limited-overs bowler.
“When I spoke to Bumrah, he said ‘it was his dream to play in Tests’. A lot of people had classified him as an ODI bowler, he in his heart of hearts knew he could be a very good Test match bowler. So he said ‘I would give anything to be a Test match bowler and I would work towards it’.
Ever since making his debut, Bumrah hasn’t looked back as after playing just 14 Tests, the latter has picked 68 wickets at an average of 20.33. The fast bowler has now become the leader of India’s bowling attack in all three formats.
