July 2022 was the last time Jasprit Bumrah stepped out wearing the shiny whites. It was the rescheduled fifth Test of India’s 2021 tour of England and the seamer had the captain’s armband because Rohit Sharma had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the fifth and final Test of the series.
India lost the fixture by seven wickets and allowed England to level the series 2-2. For Bumrah, it was a memorable tour as he ended with 23 wickets to be adjudged the player of the series from the Indian camp. Little he would have known back then about what the future had in store.
Recurring back problems, which made him miss a lot of cricket, including the 2022 T20 World Cup, turned out to be a stress fracture which made him go under the knife in March 2023. Between the Test vs England to the surgery, the speedster missed a lot of crucial fixtures, across formats, and there were big question marks over his return to competitive cricket.
Since the previous desperate attempts to rush him back to action backfired, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) opted for the long and patient route keeping his longevity in mind. The 2023 World Cup was the goal and the T20I series in Ireland was used to ease him back into action before the 50-over grind in the Asia Cup and the World Cup to follow.
Both multi-nation tournaments saw a fully fired-up Bumrah, at peak fitness, in action and both the management and BCCI would have taken a sigh of relief to see the seamer do what he does best – outsmart the batters with his bag full of tricks.
Bumrah 2.0
Not only for the management but the outings would have done Bumrah’s confidence a world of good too because a crucial World Test Championship cycle (2023-2025) is underway and India desperately need their ace seamer to be in top shape for the challenging away assignments.
While the 30-year-old didn’t feature in the away series vs West Indies, he will be leading the attack, and will also be the vice-captain, in the Boxing Day Test vs South Africa which starts the two-Test series.
India are yet to win a Test series in this part of the world and for that to change, a Bumrah firing on all cylinders will play a massive role. The crafty seamer is no stranger to playing here. Back in 2018, his red-ball story got underway in South Africa and he returns in 2023 after experiencing a fair share of highs and lows to resume his journey in whites.
“Do not unleash him in India”
Bumrah was more of a white-ball specialist when he started and made an instant impact for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and then for the Indian cricket team. After seeing his consistency in the limited-overs format, it took one bold call by then coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli to “unleash” him in the longer formats. Well ahead of the series in South Africa in 2018, Shastri discussed the idea with Kohli and told the selectors to play Bumrah in the Cape Town Test.
“No one believed Jasprit Bumrah could play Test cricket. He was a white-ball bowler. But when I took over as coach I asked myself: ‘How do I take 20 wickets overseas?’
“I knew I needed four great fast bowlers because I had played so much Test cricket against the West Indies. It started in South Africa in 2018 and we lost that fantastic series 2-1. I wanted to unleash Bumrah in that first Test in Cape Town. I bounced the idea off Virat months before and told the selectors: ‘Do not unleash him in India. I don’t want the world to see him in Test cricket before Cape Town.’ That was three years ago. Since then he’s taken 101 wickets [in 24 Tests]. It’s remarkable,” former coach Shastri had said in an interview with The Guardian in September 2021.
A phrase often overused but there has been no looking back for Bumrah the red-ball bowler since then. 128 wickets in 30 Tests at a staggering average of 21.99 are phenomenal numbers and the seamer has enjoyed bowling in South Africa during his previous two tours of the rainbow nation. In six games against South Africa, in South Africa, the right-arm quick has picked 26 wickets including two five-wicket hauls.
Like his debut Test in Cape Town in 2018, India would pin their hopes on Bumrah to break the back of the opposition’s batting, just like he did in the 2nd innings of the match. After the prized wicket of AB de Villiers, his only scalp in the first innings, Bumrah ran through the Proteas middle-order with wickets of AB, Faf Du Plessis and Quinton de Kock in the second essay.
India lost that game but found a gem.
Returning after a long absence from the format, both fans and team management would now hope he returns shining brightest.
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