In an Indian team desperately searching for a death overs’ bowler, Jasprit Bumrah came to the fore through the Indian Premier League, bumrah as a boon for cricket in the country. The scantily-built pacer from Gujarat has managed to perfect the art of bowling inch-perfect yorkers bumrah as an understudy to Lasith Malinga as a part of the Mumbai Indians franchise and has grown into an indispensable asset for the Indian team in the limited-overs format.

Having been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, Bumrah has been a menace to the batsmen at the Ranji level since his debut. His quick-arm action has made his variations almost indiscernible – starting from his slower deliveries to his reverse-swinging yorkers at the death. An injury kept him out of action for a while in the 2014/15 seasons but he returned and continued to perform unaffected by the injury break. A national call-up seemed to be just around the corner.

The inevitable call came at last as Bumrah travelled with the Indian team to Australia as an injury-replacement for Mohammad Shami, eventually making his debut in the dead rubber at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He has delivered consistent performances in coloured clothing and has since become an irreplaceable asset for his captain, consistently holding his nerve and becoming MS Dhoni’s bowling counterpart as a last-over specialist for India. He went on to perform commendably for a young fast bowler in India’s next world events – the ICC Champions’ Trophy in 2017, where he only took 4 wickets in 5 matches, but conceded at an economy rate of just 5 runs an over, particularly impressive for a death overs’ specialist.

Only one question remained. Can Bumrah become an effective Test bowler? He has shown appetite and ability for red-ball cricket, bowling Gujarat to their maiden Ranji Trophy title, in 2016-17. However, the Kookaburra ball posed a whole new challenge. He was handed the elusive Test cap in January 2018 in South Africa, and showed his adaptability with his skiddy nippers and unpredictable scrambled-seamers, proving to be the find of the tour for India – in other words, a good start in Tests for the versatile Bumrah.

In the season to follow, Bumrah’s reputation would grow staggeringly as he would take Test cricket by storm in just his first year in whites. With sensational performances in England and Australia, he broke the record for the most wickets taken in overseas Tests by an Indian bowler in a single year.

IPL through the years bumrah…

One of the many things the IPL can boast of is being a feeder system of emerging talent. It provides a platform for unheard players to make themselves known, to throw their hat in the ring as far as national reckoning goes. And no one exemplifies this better than Jasprit Bumrah, probably the IPL’s biggest gift to Indian cricket.

Bumrah built his reputation by being different. A short run-up followed by a snappy bowling action with his arms rigid as bones, where it seems like everything could go wrong, right up until the point when it doesn’t. His reliability is what surprisingly started to stand out amid the mayhem of the IPL. Under the guidance of a death-bowling expert like Lasith Malinga, Bumrah flourished. He made his debut in the 2013 edition of the competition, where he barely got much game time, but would quickly go on to become a regular in the MI playing eleven in the seasons to follow, surprising batsmen with the pace he generated off his wrist.

The Indian T20 League has been the making of many promising young players and Jasprit Bumrah is one of them. Featuring for Mumbai, Bumrah first caught the eye with an unusual bowling action. Blessed with the ability to bowl yorkers and get the steep bounce off the pitch, the Gujarat pacer has arguably become India’s best bowler in limited-overs cricket since making his international debut.

Jasprit made his T20 debut against Maharashtra in the 2012-13 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and helped Gujarat clinch the title with his Man of the Match performance. After impressing in his debut Indian T20 league season for the Mumbai-based franchise, in the subsequent year, he was again bought by Mumbai for a whopping 1.2 crores.

Bumrah’s unusual angle with which he bowls made him a household name in the T20s. The Indian selectors took notice of it and his skills, control, and accuracy got him to the flight to Australia in 2016 for the T20I series. When Mohammed Shami got injured, Bumrah was given the opportunity to make his ODI debut in Sydney before the T20Is. After an impressive outing there, he was given a place in the starting XI for the T20Is and he didn’t disappoint as he took six wickets in a Kangaroo-whitewash. After great success during the Australian tour, it came as no surprise when Bumrah soon became the number two ranked T20I bowler in the world. He played Asia Cup and T20I World Cup as well in the same year, spearheading the pace attack and cementing his place.

His control in the death overs meant that the Indian selectors showed faith in him for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy also. Though he bowled a no-ball on a wicket delivery to the eventual centurion Fakhar Zaman, he didn’t let that setback worry him much. Proving his mantle time and again, Bumrah has been the go-to bowler for Virat Kohli in the shorter formats and eventually, in the Tests as well. During his debut tour of South Africa, in only his third match, he took a fifer and convinced everyone of his potential in the longest format too.

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