New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah is arguably one of the best fast bowlers in the world at present. The Indian pacer has dominated some of the best batters in the world across all formats in different conditions around the world and has proved his mettle for Team India. Bumrah has been delivering consistently for India in all three formats and has already established his credentials as one of the greatest fast bowlers the country has produced.
The Indian pacer was spotted by Mumbai Indians (MI) scouts at a local tournament in Gujarat in 2013 and went on to develop into a world-beater at the franchise. However, Bumrah has revealed he never had formal coaching until he turned into a professional cricket and learnt the tricks and trades of bowling by watching fast bowlers on television.
Bumrah revealed he didn’t play much cricket at a very young age and only picked up the sport when he was a teenager. He started with the tennis ball and picked up the usual season ball only at the age of 16 or 17. While he learnt by watching cricket on TV, Bumrah used his self-instincts and found his own solutions to develop further at the start of his cricketing journey.
“I started my cricket quite late. I was not a tearaway quick because at six, seven, I didn’t play cricket,” Bumrah, who is currently spearheading India’s pace attack in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia told Fox Sports in an interview.
“I started cricket with the season ball probably at 16, 17. So I watched the television and picked up cricket. I’d got no formal coaching ever. I learned everything through the television and, you know, somehow picked up cues and kept on finding my own solutions. So that’s worked with me till date,” he added.
After impressing in his first few seasons at Mumbai Indians, Bumrah was fast-tracked into the Indian team and went on to make his international debut in January 2016. There has been no looking back ever since for the right-arm pacer, who has grown into one of the most dangerous bowlers across formats with his awkward action and blistering pace.
How did Jasprit Bumrah develop a short run-up?
Bumrah also revealed the secret behind his short run-up which has proven to be quite effective for him without affecting his pace. The Indian pacer revealed he used to bowl with a short run-up due to limited space in the ground where he played as a youngster as it had benches.
While he did try to increase his run-up when he turned professional, Bumrah realised the short run-up didn’t hamper his pace and helped him sustain energy for longer spells. The Indian pacer thus decided to stick to a short run-up and has found immense success with his bowling style.
“When I used to play cricket as a youngster, there used to be benches over there. So I couldn’t go any further than that. So I couldn’t go through that. So that was the limit that we had. So we used to keep it as a boundary. I used to run in from there. When I came into serious cricket, I tried to run more. Initially, I did run a lot more, but it used to have no difference to my pace. It used to stay the same,” said Bumrah
“So at that time, I thought, okay, might as well conserve some energy for bowl faster for a long period of time. So I had this and it did, it made no difference to my bowling. So I thought I’ll keep it with me,” he added.
Bumrah also revealed why none of the coaches in India advised him to tinker with his bowling action or tried to change his run-up as they felt it would be of no use. The Indian pacer claimed many people thought he wouldn’t sustain for more than 6-7 months in Test cricket for India but he went on to prove his critics wrong with his success and longevity.
Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah recalled how he learned from watching fast bowlers on the television to relying on his own instincts to become one of the best pacers in the world at present. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
