Ollie Robinson went gaga over Jasprit Bumrah’s deliveries to dismiss Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes in Visakhapatnam.
England pacer Ollie Robinson turned borderline fanboy as he couldn’t help but praise ‘best in the world’ Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the 3rd India vs England Test starting in Rajkot on Thursday. Bumrah was all over England in the Visakhapatnam Test, grabbing 6/45 in the first innings to go with 3/46 in the second, playing a crucial role in India’s 106-run win over England. Following a match-haul of 9/91, Bumrah was adjudged the Player of the Match and the fact that he was given the honour over his teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a game-defining 209, speaks volumes about the greatness of the man.
How will England stop Jasprit Bumrah? (Reuters)
Bumrah then pipped teammate Ravichandran Ashwin to become the No. 1-ranked bowler in the world – the first Indian pacer ever to hold this distinction as Robinson marvelled at the art of India’s genius. For England quick Robinson, Bumrah’s yorker to castle Ollie Pope and then the slower delivery to dismiss Ben Foakes in the second innings is as high a benchmark a pacer can set for him.
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“Jasprit Bumrah has been crazy good I must have said, ‘This bloke’s the best bowler in the world,’ ten times in Vizag. The way he got Pope out, I was like, ‘Oh my, this guy’s a joke.’ And then he got Foakes out with a slower ball and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, can this guy get any better?’ You watch him and you think, ‘Wow, he’s good.’ And then there’s something else where you think, ‘He’s amazing, can he do anything more?'” Robinson wrote for Wisden.
“And as a bowler – Jimmy and I were speaking about it and after the last game – to watch him ply his trade in India is really special because we’re always striving to put on a performance like that in these conditions. He’s really special to watch. Credit to Jasprit – he’s extraordinary. He’s definitely given me food for thought in the way that he bowls over here.”
How good were those two gems from Jasprit Bumrah
It’s difficult to pick which of the two dismissals takes the cake. Before the second innings, Bumrah’s yorker that shattered Pope’s stumps – and fetched appreciation from none other than the original ‘Sultan of Swing’ Waqar Younis – was easily the ball of the series, but then Bumrah being Bumrah, bettered it when he rolled his fingers around to set packing Foakes, who had forged the best partnership of the innings with Tom Hartley for the eighth wicket. As India tried desperately to break the stand as England’s last-recognised pair kept chipping away with runs, Rohit Sharma turned to Bumrah… and against all odds, the India pacer dropped his pace and held on to a caught and bowled. Absolute genius.
“The way he changes his pace and the different balls that he’s got when the game’s meandering along, Foakes and Hartley in the last game were playing really nicely in the fourth innings and were playing his on-pace ball fairly well, there was no inkling that he was going to bowl that 120kph cutter that got Foakes. His art of surprise and execution is something that I wouldn’t have practiced as much before,” added Robinson.
“I practice smashing top-of-off stuff and trying to move the ball either way. I’ve never really thought about using my T20 skills in a Test match that often. I actually practiced the slower ball that Chris Woakes bowls – not the knuckleball, the one where you lock your wrist and come under it a little bit slower – with Paul Collingwood in Vizag after watching what Bumrah was producing.”
