IND vs ENG, 2024: What makes Jasprit Bumrah, a once-in-a-generation bowler, so special

India vs England, 2024: What makes Jasprit Bumrah, a once-in-a-generation bowler? Bumrah ranks number 1 in ICC Men's Test Bowling Rankings.

Jasprit Bumrah ranks no. 1 in Tests (Photos: ©X/Twitter )

Since Jasprit Bumrah has returned to international cricket after a year-long layoff due to injury, he has been a different bowler altogether. He spearheaded the Indian pace bowling attack in the 2023 ODI World Cup. And now, he is rewriting record books in Test cricket and has bagged the No. 1 bowler’s spot in the format. He earned the rank after blowing away England in the Visakhapatnam Test with match figures of 9/91 on a flat deck. Hence, he became the first bowler to be the No. 1 in all three formats of the game.

So, what makes Bumrah so special?

Bumrah is a highly skilled bowler

In the Visakhapatnam Test against England, it was a flat deck with little help for seamers. But Bumrah’s skills – his ability to swing the ball both ways, reverse swing it, and bowl those toe-crunching yorkers – (Ollie Pope would confirm it), are what makes this once-in-a-generation bowler so special. Besides the obvious skills with the ball, Bumrah is quite an intelligent bowler as he reads the mind of the batter and plays with it. 

There have been numerous occasions when he has outfoxed the opposition with his intelligent bowling. Stokes being out bowled in the first Test at Hyderabad is a case in point where Bumrah read the England captain’s next move and bowled an away-going delivery to shatter the stumps. Stokes couldn’t do much but admire the great skills of the India bowler. Bumrah dismissed Stokes again in the second Test where the England captain threw his arm in the air, implying he could not decode Bumrah at all.

Read More: IND vs ENG, 2nd Test, Day 4: Combined bowling effort helps India win; series scoreline stands at 1-1 

Bumrah takes the pitch out of the equation

Bumrah can pick up wickets irrespective of the balling conditions – whether hard or soft; or the pitch equation. He has played just 6 Tests in India where spinners generally dominate, but Bumrah has still been able to make his mark in such conditions. He has the best bowling average among India bowlers playing 6 Tests or more and has bowled at least 100 overs in India. 

Player	Average	Matches	Wickets
Jasprit Bumrah	13.06	6	29
Narendra Hirwani	16.62	8	45
Axar Patel	18.65	12	47
Ravindra Jadeja	21.04	41	199
R Ashwin	21.77	57	346

Besides, in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries, Bumrah has already proven himself with his brilliant display of red-ball skills. The recent Cape Town Test win over South Africa has a lot to do with Bumrah’s super execution of his skills where he bagged 6 wickets in the second innings. He bagged 12 wickets in the 2-match series and walked away with the Player of the Series award as India drew 1-1.

Have a look at the stats of Bumrah in SENA countries and India.

Place	Matches	Wickets	Average	BBI	5W/10W
SENA	26	103	24.98	6/33	6/0
India	6	29	13.06	6/45	2/0
Overall	34	155	20.19	6/27	10/0

Read More: Jasprit Bumrah's top 5 Test spells in SENA nations

Jasprit Bumrah took 3-46 in 2nd innings against England (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Bumrah is a great learner of the game

Jasprit Bumrah has always been a great learner of the game and has evolved as a bowler ever since he first broke into the cricketing scene as a rookie bowler for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He has gone from strength to strength, becoming one of the best bowlers of the current generation. He can absorb pressure, give the team breakthroughs as and when needed, and even run through a line-up. He is a complete all-round bowler who can play all roles assigned to him – attacking, containing, and defending. He is Rohit Sharma’s go-to bowler whenever the captain needs to break a stand and get India back into the game. 

What future holds for Bumrah?

In the current T20 world where the pitches are batting-friendly, and batters have come up with a wide range of innovative shots to score runs across all parts of the ground, Bumrah has held his head high with his great display of skilled bowling, his vast rage of deliveries, and a destroyer of batting line-up on any pitch and conditions Hence, it is no doubt Bumrah is a rare talent who is in the prime of his career where he has overshadowed Indian spinners at home. 

But with limited-over format, and multi-nation tournaments set to dominate the cricketing world in the next decade or so, highly-skilled Bumrah is likely to dominate opposition batters on Indian pitches and be fondly remembered for his mastery and control on sub-continental decks in Test cricket which are unhelpful for bowlers of his pedigree. Very few India pacers can boast of such a reputation. 

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