Look at his smile after he yorked Wriddhiman Saha, the Gujarat Titans opener. Look at his almost-nothing celebration after dismissing Sai Sudharsan, the top scorer in Gujarat’s innings, as if he’s performing nothing but a job that was simply expected of himself.
Unlike most fast bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah simply doesn’t have any hullabaloo around the celebration of his wickets. And that is the least of the anomalies in his bowling.
It has been said, and observed, time and again that Bumrah is a freak. A bowler akin to nothing the world had seen before him and would never see after him. His freakishness is apparent even before he’s delivered the ball; before he’s displayed his elite skillset and genius.
While Lasith Malinga’s action and yorker skillset made him unique, Bumrah took it to another level with his unimitable run-up, load-up, and action, followed by the most jaw-dropping bowling skillset you’d come across in a fast bowler.
Because he begins with a slow run-up, almost walking at the start of it, and then picks up speed after he’s halfway through it, it’s incomprehensible to non-athletes how great an amount of effort, energy, and strain Bumrah puts on his back.
The fact that he’s now into the 11th year of his IPL career, and has missed only one full season – and a year of action for India – is remarkable considering that fast bowlers with such bowling action and those who could bowl at high pace don’t last long, or are unable to sustain form at the top level.
But Bumrah is here, yorking the veteran Saha with a 140 KPH thunderbolt and deceiving David Miller, one of the best T20 hitters in the world, with a slower ball of 124 KPH speed.
In Ahmedabad this Sunday evening, Bumrah performed a typical Bumrah act. While three other Mumbai Indians bowlers, who bowled at least two overs each, went for more than 10 runs an over, Bumrah returned with enviable figures of 3/14.
There was a huge bafflement at the start of the game because of the tactics of the new MI captain, Hardik Pandya. Hardik bowled himself the first and third overs and had Luke Wood bowl the second over.
Bumrah was the best new ball bowler during the World Cup 2023 and is your spearhead bowler. Yet, here he was, running from fielding position to fielding position as he saw Pandya concede 20 runs off his first two overs, profligating any advantage that could’ve been gained with the new ball.
For the fourth over, Hardik immediately went to Bumrah—a no-brainer, really—and the senior pacer showed how it’s done.
With the new ball that was now not really that new, Bumrah mixed up his pace. His first five balls were clocked at 135, 119, 141, and 139, and then he sent a searing yorker at 140 to close out the over and close out Saha’s innings, who, in all fairness, couldn’t have done much at all.
Just Bumrah Things 🤷♂️@Jaspritbumrah93 on target in his first over 👏#GT reach 47/1 after 6 overs
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 24, 2024
Hardik used Bumrah in three spells. He returned in the 12th over and conceded only two singles, bowling three consecutive dots at Sai Sudharsan, all three pace-on deliveries, including a short ball.
He bowled the 17th over, which was the breakthrough over, one where MI got ahead in the game with Bumrah’s twin strikes. On the first ball, Bumrah exhibited his game sense and genius. Having bowled pace-on deliveries in his previous over, this time he dropped the speed, by rolling his fingers for a slower delivery.
Miller was deceived well and truly, and he could only spoon a catch after mistiming his drive-cum-check shot. The shot from Miller was on because Bumrah and Hardik had kept a mid-off in the circle instead of the traditional long-off; Hardik himself stood at the position, and he backpedalled to complete the catch.
Two balls later, he had Sudharsan, caught superbly by a running Tilak Varma at deep square leg off a flick from the left-hander. The game was broken open by Bumrah for MI.
In the 19th over, Bumrah conceded only six runs off the bat, fetching him outstanding figures of 3/14.
Jasprit Bumrah’s 3/14 goes in vain as MI fall short by 6 runs in the chase of 169
For most other bowlers in the world, this would have been a performance for folklore, something that the player would be asked to talk about for the entire season. But the fact that it was a routine show from Jasprit Bumrah reflects his already-achieved greatness.
Generally, fast bowlers are believed to be the bullies. The ones sledging the batter, celebrating animatedly, popping up their veins, and giving provocative send-offs.
But not Bumrah. From his run-up, load-up, and action, to the variety in his skillset, to his no-fuss celebration, Jasprit Bumrah truly is the most unique creature to have stepped on the cricket field.