The making of Jasprit Bumrah: Three former teammates provide insight into India’s fast-bowling superstar

Aaron Finch calls Jasprit Bumrah the “most down-to-earth superstar I have ever met”. Three ex-teammates provide a unique insight into the making of India’s pace dynamo.

The day Ben Cutting listened to the story behind the world’s best yorker was the day he realised there would only be one Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah’s toe-seeking missile is one of cricket’s great balls and Cutting, like all fellow fast bowlers, was keen to learn the secret origins of it in his time with Bumrah in the Indian Premier League.

Was it the product of a magical drill in the nets? Did he get it off YouTube? Was it passed down from a former great?

Not quite.

“I remember he used to tell the story of how he grew up in a small house with a narrow hallway,’’ Cutting said.

“His mum would work night shifts. He would bowl up and down the hallway but to not wake his mum he would have to hit the wall at the skirting board at the bottom. So he perfected his yorker that way.’’

Cutting, knowing the Bumrah skirting board drill was so specific to his upbringing, jokingly thought “well that’s me, I’m stuffed.’’

“When we played together we also had (Sri Lankas) Lasith Malinga in our team so we had the two best yorker bowlers in the world. Jasprit picked up things from Malinga which he told to me so they sort of got passed down the chain. His yorker was so good that even if you knew it was coming it was still hard to play.’’

“Jasprit is a lovely guy. If you messaged him on WhatsApp he would always come back to you. He always worked hard at training.’’

Bumrah has become the best fast bowler in world cricket and one of the best in the history. Of bowlers who have played more than 40 Tests no-one has a better average than he has – 19.52 runs per wicket.

Bowled!

Bumrah gets Khawaja early on #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/ewDc68KIsP

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Bumrah gets his man again and Australia lose a second wicket in under three overs. #AUSvIND

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He has simply ransacked Australia this summer, taking 21 wickets at 10.9 in three Tests.

Former Australian captain Aaron Finch, who now admires Bumrah’s best work from the commentary box at Channel 7, also played with Bumrah in the IPL and had a similarly high impression.

“I think he is the most down to earth superstar I have ever met,’’ Finch said.

Finch worked as a commentator on India’s T20 World Cup win in Barbados in July and after the game went back to the team hotel and down the beach to relax.

He was surprised that one of the first people he saw was Bumrah who had broken away from the boisterous team celebration to be with his wife Sanjana, a television presenter, and son Angad.

“I said to him what are you doing here and he said this is where I want to be. That said a lot about him. He is very family orientated.’’

Bumrah smiles during a training session in 2018.

Bumrah appeals for a wicket against Australia.

Bumrah was born in Ahmedabad as the son of Jasbir Singh, who ran a chemical business before dying when Jasprit was five, and Daljeet Bumrah, a school vice-principal who raised Jasprit and his sister Juhika.

His former Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh says Bumrah first caught his eye in a provincial match playing for Gujarat against Harbhajan’s Punjabi side.

“We could not bowl them out and he bowled us out twice on a flat wicket – I thought then he might have had something special,’’ Habhajan said.

“Jasprit came to the Mumbai Indian a long time ago and when I think of him back then he was a skinny little guy but he has bulked up a lot. He was always different and hard to face.

“I saw him work very hard on his fitness and his diet. He is a great story. He comes from a small town. He loves his family.

“It is the most important thing in his life.’’

Having a sports presenter as a wife may have helped Bumrah perfect his delivery at press conferences.

His thoughtful, articulate replies at a press conference during the Brisbane Test were one of the highlights of a rain-marred week.

A class act on and off the field.

Originally published as The making of Jasprit Bumrah: Three former teammates provide insight into India’s fast-bowling superstar