IPL 2021 – IND vs ENG 5th Test: Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond explains, ‘why Jasprit Bumrah is so special’ – Team India premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took just two wickets in the second innings of the fourth Test at Oval against England but those two wickets changed the course of the game and helped India conquer the Oval after 50 years. Cricket pundits around the world started analysing Bumrah’s bowling after the beautiful spell. Former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond who has been working with Bumrah for the last seven years at Mumbai Indians in IPL revealed the reason why Jasprit Bumrah is so special?
Bumrah in India Tour of England 2021
18 wickets at a average of 20.83. Best figures of 5/64
“We’ve had seven years together and you get to know someone pretty well. He was this wiry, scrawny kid who had just come off a knee reconstruction and didn’t play more than a couple of games in my first season (in the IPL). The next thing he’s playing for India and he’s now one of the best in the world. There are certain things in his action that make him unique and that’s also what makes him so great. People mention his run-up and it’s probably too lose a term to actually call it that, it’s more of a stuttering walk. Often when he’s warming up I’ll imitate him and throw the ball back. He just looks at me and shakes his head,” Bond told Sportsmail.
Bumrah made his debut in IPL way back in 2013 where he just played two matches. Bond was bowling coach of the MI franchise then and has been working with him ever since.
“He has these amazing supple wrists so he can move it around, which gives him the ability to swing the ball. And his bowling position, most people deliver it here (Bond lifts his bowling hand up parallel with his ear), whereas he delivers it way out in front of him so the batsman has less time to adapt. That makes his bouncer so difficult to see. Most other bowlers will use a method that’s distinguishable — he just flicks the wrist and whammo, it’s on you. That’s why he hurries guys up,” Shane Bond added.
Jasprit Bumrah in IPL 2021 so far
Matches – 7 / Wickets – 6 / AVG – 32.00 / ECO – 7.11
In IPL, Bumrah has played 99 matches where he has picked 115 wickets at an average of 24.14 and strike rate of 19.60. He also has one of the best economy considering he bowls the toughest overs in the game (ECO 7.39). The right arm pacer has 2 four-wicket hauls in the cash-rich league.
“In terms of his action, we’ve never really tinkered around with it. We’ve talked about where he bowls on the crease but how he bowls makes him brilliant to work with. That’s what I find most interesting about bowling. I have parents call me and say, “Can you look at my son’s action and tell me if it’s good or not?”. I’m like, I’ve been lucky enough to work with (Trent) Boult, (Lasith) Malinga, (Mitchell) Johnson, (Mitchell) McClenaghan to Bumrah — all these guys are so different but all awesome. You realise, it’s not about how it looks and you only need to change a bowler’s action if it’s not causing problems for batters at the other end. I would say that wasn’t an issue for those blokes I’ve listed, so why would you go and alter it?,” said Mumbai Indians coach.
Bumrah will be playing his 100th IPL game against Chennai Super Kings on September 19th as the IPL 2021 phase 2 begins.
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