Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], February 3 (ANI): Following his incredible six-wicket haul on day two of the second Test against England, star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah shared his thoughts on the impressive yorker that cleaned up Ollie Pope, saying that one needs to be patient and have to set batters up for a dismissal by watching out for what they could be looking for.
The experienced seamer grabbed six wickets in his spell of 15.5 overs where he conceded just 45 runs. He took the wickets of batters like Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Johnny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley, and James Anderson in his spell. The biggest highlight of Bumrah’s spell was the yorker that cleaned up Pope’s middle and leg stump and left him absolutely bamboozled.
The Gujarat-born cricketer asserted that it is important to learn reverse swing in order to be successful in India.
“You always enjoy when you get rewards. In India reverse swing plays a big role. Born in this country, you know how to use it to your advantage. In India, you have to learn how to bowl reverse. I’ve grown up watching reverse swing set-ups, legendary bowlers bowling magical deliveries. To be able to do it now, very happy with that. When you bowl reverse, people try to bowl magical deliveries every other ball,” Bumrah said while speaking after stumps on Day 2.
“You have to be patient with that (Ollie Pope’s dismissal). Have to set the batters up. Have to use deliveries wisely. Can’t just bowl inswing outswing, inswing outswing. After that Pope delivery, I had in mind they’ll be looking out for the inswinger. Was keeping an eye on what the batters were looking to do. Very happy. Try and avoid looking at numbers. When you do that, you build pressure and don’t enjoy yourself,” the 30-year-old added.
Bumrah became the fastest Indian speedster to pick 150+ wickets in long-format cricket. He reached the remarkable feat after delivering 6781 balls in Test cricket. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav stands in the second spot with 7661 balls. Mohammed Shami and Kapil Dev hold the third and fourth place with 7755 and 8378 balls respectively.
Bumrah reached another milestone on Saturday. He took Kapil Dev’s place to dismiss the opposition’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth batters in an innings in a Test in India. Earlier, Kapil Dev made the record in 1983 against West Indies in Ahmedabad, where the former India skipper made a stunning spell of 9/83.
Among the bowlers with 150 Test wickets, he has the second best bowling average at 20.28, next to Syd Barnes of England (16.43).
Coming to the match, India ended the day two of the match at 28/0, with skipper Rohit Sharma (13*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (15*) unbeaten. The hosts lead by 171 runs.
Led by Bumrah’s heroics, India had earlier bundled out England for just 253 in their first innings, gaining a 143-run lead. Zak Crawley (76 in 78 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) did launch an impressive counterattack, but Bumrah along with spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) blew away the rest of the English line-up.
India reached a respectable total of 396 runs in their first innings mainly due to the maiden double-hundred of the young Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 in 290 balls, with 19 fours and seven sixes). Knocks from Shubman Gill (34), Rajat Patidar (32), Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel (27 each) provided some help to the left-handed batter. (ANI)
