Jasprit Bumrah looks back at one of the most memorable overs of his career, where he kept Brendon McCullum quiet.
Jasprit Bumrah, at this stage of his career, has bowled many a memorable spell, but the one he holds very dear to his heart is the IPL 2017 clash between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions. Bumrah, now a master of death bowling, was preferred over Lasith Malinga to bowl the Super Over by captain Rohit Sharma. There was nothing to separate the two after both teams had finished on 153. Into the Super Over, batting first, MI scored 11, setting Gujarat a target of 12 runs, and when the two batters are of the calibre of Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch, it looks like a cakewalk. Right?
Jasprit Bumrah (L) defended 11 off the over against Brendon McCullum (R) and Aaron Finch(Getty Images)
Wrong. Bumrah, bowling probably the most special Super Over of his career, restricted the Lions to just six. What makes this achievement sweeter is the fact that Bumrah had begun the over with a no-ball and a wide in the first three balls. From there, to have kept the batters to merely singles and leg-byes is an over that will go down in IPL history as rather iconic. Seven years later, looking back at those six deliveries, Bumrah revealed that everything clicked so well for him that even the great McCullum didn’t know what to do.
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“So at this venue, I had played quite a lot. This is 2017 so I was having a good year and game as well. The ball was reverse-swinging a bit so we felt that if I could execute my yorkers… I had recently developed the slowing-dipping yorker so not many had seen me use it. We thought that if we could do that, it could go well,” Bumrah told his wife and sports broadcaster Sanjana Ganesan in a video posted by Jio Cinema
“But initially, the start wasn’t well. As you can see, I bowled a no-ball and a wide, but I realised that somehow I was not panicking. I never felt that they were going to hit me. I just fell that if I execute it right, there is no chance they’ll hit me. Midway through this over, McCullum told me I can’t you, you are bowling really well. It was an up-and-down game and we were able to pull off a win. So yeah, it was very special.”
Jasprit Bumrah’s rapid rise in 2017
By then, Bumrah was into his second year as an international cricketer. Having made his debut for India in 2016, he had ascended quickly and climbed up the pecking order to establish himself as their pace spearhead. And the difference was clearly visible. Bumrah picked up 20 wickets as compared to 15 in IPL 2016 and a collective haul of 11 wickets the three seasons prior to it.
Bumrah went on to bowl many game-changing overs and spells, including the one against Chennai Super Kings during the IPL 2019 final. But this one in particular, at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot, remains unbeatable. This was after he had picked up 2/32 from his four overs, limited Gujarat Lions to 153/9. To be handed the ball ahead of someone like Malinga and then prove the captain’s decision is the kind of stuff every bowler wants to brag about.
