Jasprit Bumrah: Former England seamer Steven Finn hailed Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah following his fifer on Day 3 of the opening Test at Headingley in Leeds on Sunday. Finn opined that the 31-year-old is like a computer consistently calibrating the requirement of the situation and is able to deliver the returns as expected.
Jasprit Bumrah: The right-arm speedster put in a lion-hearted performance on Day 3 to give Team India a slender lead in Headingley. He took all three wickets of the hosts on Day 2 and dismissed Josh Tongue in his 25th over, finishing with figures of 24.4-5-83-5.
Jasprit Bumrah: In his column for the BBC Sport, Finn wrote that the batters can hardly ever decode the Indian speedster despite plenty of footage out there. He stated:
“He is like a computer constantly calibrating what is needed in any given situation, and he is able to implement almost exactly what he wants to with absolute precision. A batter could watch as many hours of Bumrah footage as they like, yet still be surprised when they face him. There is no ‘tell’ as to what he going to bowl. No change of arm path, no change of finger position. A batter can only rely on reacting to what is coming their way.”
Jasprit Bumrah: The Ahmedabad-born cricketer also had three dropped catches off his bowling, two by Yashasvi Jaiswal and one by Ravindra Jadeja. He also sent down a front-foot no-ball on Day 2, denying himself the crucial wicket of Harry Brook, who later made 99.
“Would have been India’s first choice as the new Test captain” – Steven Finn on Jasprit Bumrah
“Bumrah is a thinker about the game and would have been India’s first choice as the new Test captain has it not been for his struggle to play in every match. He took the decision himself to not pursue the job as he did not feel it was fair on the team. We’re lucky to be in an era of great fast bowlers. From recent international retirees Stuart Broad and James Anderson, to Kagiso Rabada, Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Bumrah sits atop of them all as the finest fast bowler to have played the game. Some accolade.”
India reached 90/2 at stumps, holding a lead of 96, having lost Jaiswal and B Sai Sudharsan.