Indian great Sunil Gavaskar has opined that the team’s pack leader Jasprit Bumrah lacked confidence in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
Bumrah, who is one of India’s best bowlers, had surprisingly gone wicketless in the big final against the Kiwis. It was noticed that Bumrah was short in his length and could not hit the right areas consistently in the WTC Final.
However, Bumrah was at his absolute best on the opening day of the first Test match against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Wednesday. Bumrah returned with 4-46 as he bowled at the top of his game and played a key role in skittling out the hosts for a paltry score of 183 runs.
In fact, Bumrah provided the breakthrough in his first over as he plumbed Rory Burns in front of the wickets. Subsequently, Bumrah built pressure on Jos Buttler as the England wicket-keeper batsman could not get off the mark despite facing 18 balls. Bumrah was able to set Buttler and got the better of England’s gloveman.
Bumrah then got rid of Stuart Broad as he plumbed him in front of the wickets whereas bowled a perfect yorker to dismiss James Anderson.
“In the very first over, Bumrah set up Rory Burns. He first moved the ball away from the off-stump towards slips. I thought the fifth or sixth ball would come in, just like he foxed Keaton Jennings at The Oval in 2018. He had shouldered arms and was dismissed lbw. At Trent Bridge, Bumrah brought the fourth ball back in and Rory Burns had no answer to the delivery. It was very good bowling.”
Gavaskar added: “Bumrah looked in excellent rhythm out the middle here (in Nottingham), which matters a lot for a bowler. In the WTC final, he could not get into any sort of rhythm. When he ran into bowl, it did not seem like he was very confident. Here the confidence was very much visible. Also, Bumrah utilized the favourable conditions in Nottingham to the hilt.”
This performance would have added a shot in the arm for Bumrah as he hasn’t been at his best in the recent past. India are in a dominating position as they trail by 162 runs after scoring 21 runs in their first innings.
