Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah creates history in destroying Australia’s hapless batting
Jasprit Bumrah has destroyed Australia’s batting line-up and humiliated the world’s best-rated bowling attack to announce himself as one of the most dangerous quicks on the planet.
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It shouldn’t surprise that Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah was schooled in the art of the yorker by the best in the business, Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga.
Bumrah’s brilliance with the sandshoe crusher was on show at the MCG as he took down Shaun Marsh with a pre-lunch slower ball, in a display of supreme control.
When Bumrah smashed a ball a bit less full in to Travis Head’s stumps to demoralise the Australia top order, then cleaned up the tail on his way to a sublime 6-33 — the best ever MCG figures by an Indian quick — he further enhanced his standing as the best fast bowler in the series.
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Bumrah said the Marsh set-up was the idea of teammate Rohit Sharma — because “nothing was happening” — and he dropped his speed from 140km the ball before to 111kmh with the delivery which bamboozled the Aussie batsman.
“The wicket was slow and the ball was soft. Rohit was at mid-off and he told me to try a slower ball,” Bumrah said after play.
“The execution was good. I thought maybe it would dip. That was the plan and it worked.”
Bumrah’s all day execution belied the benign pitch which didn’t help him do most of his damage.
He just aimed at the stumps and kept it full; the orders an under-12 coach drills into the game’s future stars. He yorked Marsh, Head, then Nathan Lyon too and Josh Hazlewood too continuing his tour of dreams.
Sitting in the Bourke Street Mall before Christmas, smiling in the Melbourne sun, Bumrah gave a snapshot of his mindset.
“Positive Mind. Positive Vibes. Positive Life.,” he tweeted.
Positive Mind.✔
— Jasprit bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) December 21, 2018
Positive Vibes.✔
Positive Life.✔#christmasfeels🎅🻠pic.twitter.com/iktrswygrL
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But littered throughout his posts have been motivational phrases that speak to an athlete resolved to get the utmost from himself, with the least amount of fuss possible.
“Fear less. Dominate more,” was one recent tweet.
“Look in the mirror...That’s your competition,” was another.
Before that was a “happy birthday” message to Malinga, the “yorker king” who took Bumrah under his wing when they came together for the 2013 Indian Premier League season at the Mumbai Indians.
It was Bumrah’s first professional contract, and he came to the team half-formed in the art of the yorker, the ball which has served him so well in becoming the number one one-day bowler in the world.
Raised by his mother, after his father passed away when Bumrah was just seven, he honed his bowling skills by aiming at the skirting boards of his home, because he wasn’t allowed to bowl outside.
Being a cricketer was all he ever wanted to, and among the hordes of Indian bowling prospects he stood out, and not just because of his unorthodox action.
He took wickets, lots of them, and he as he progressed through junior teams, not one coach ever asked him to change the action which allows him to wind up and then unwind at the point of delivery.
His speed, averaging in excess of 140kmh since his Test debut, has become a standout among an Indian pace battery not known for pushing the radar.
But his control is what has watchers enthralled, as evidenced by two deliveries to Marsh.
The second last ball before lunch was 140kmh. The next ball was 111kmh. Marsh had no idea.
It was planning perfection, and the execution was ever better.
The ICC Test rankings have him listed at 28. He won’t be there for long.
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