Jasprit Bumrah may not get competitive vibes seeing the legendary James Anderson go about his business seamlessly even at the age of 41 but England captain Ben Stokes feels there are a lot of similarities between the two fast bowlers, especially because of the impact they have on the match every time they take the field. Despite the pitch in Visakhapatnam for the second Test match being a placid one, both Anderson and Bumrah often outbowled the spinners of their side.
When all the England spinners were going close to four runs an over during India’s first innings, Anderson bowled 25 overs for only 47 runs and also picked up three crucial wickets. Even in India’s second innings Anderson sent back the Indian openers Yashavi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma cheaply.
Bumrah on the other hand, was the deciding factor between the two sides. England were going all guns blazing in their first innings, Bumrah produced a spell for the ages to completely turn the match on its head. The Indian pace spearhead removed Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley and Anderson to return with figures of 6/45. The yorker that he bowled to Pope and the delivery that he got Stokes with will be talked about for a long time.
In the second innings, he got Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Hartley again to finish off the match in India’s favour. His match figures of 9/91 were one of the best by an Indian seamer in a Test match. The right-arm pacer also became the fastest Indian pacer to reach 150 Test wickets.
After producing a Player of the Match performance in the second Test which India won by 106 runs, Bumrah was asked whether he felt extra motivated seeing Anderson bowling. The Indian pace ace answered in the negative.
“No no before becoming a cricketer, I always used to spend time watching cricket and it was fast bowlers, be it from India be it from any other team. That doesn’t mean, watching them I used to feel that I need to pull up my socks. If somebody is doing well, kudos them,” Bumrah told Jio Cinema.
Stokes, who was left bemused by Bumrah in the first innings, said sometimes you have no option but to put your hand up to someone like Bumrah and say “what a player”.
“You look at the way Jimmy Anderson and Jasprit Bumrah bowled this week, you are watching incredibly skilful bowlers. Watching those two, Jasprit on the opposite side, sometimes you’ve got to hold your hand up and say what a player. Jimmy is the same for us,” Stokes said on Jio Cinema.
The England all-rounder said Bumrah is one of those rare cricketers whom he enjoys to watch. “Bumrah throughout the game was exceptional. There were a lot of times when we were on top of India but India produced something to get back on top. It was like India’s game, our game. Towards the end, Jasprit Bumrah is an absolute champion of a player. He comes back whenever Rohit (Sharma) needs a wicket. I love to watch very good cricketers go about their business and Jasprit Bumrah is one of them, another great Test match for him.”
[ad_2]