Jasprit Bumrah
In other times, Jasprit Bumrah would have been given a hero's welcome at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. One of the finest all-format bowlers of all time, Bumrah, in his four-year-long career, has twice been part of the winning Test team in Australia and is the only bowler from the sub-continent to have a Test fifer each in South Africa, England, and Australia. And hence, unlike most others, Bumrah isn't any unheralded call-up made by the team management which usually leaves a sense of anticipation among the crowd. After 17 Test appearances since his debut, on January 5, 2018, all of which were away from home, Bumrah on Friday will make his home Test debut, a record in itself. Unfortunately for the pacer, the Chennai opener against England will be played behind closed doors owing to coronavirus restrictions with only the second Test open to the crowd (50 per cent).
In December 2017, a 23-year-old Bumrah was added to the 17-member Test squad for the South Africa tour as the fifth pacer to the lineup comprising Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Ishant Sharma. Since then, he played three in South Africa and England, two each in New Zealand and West Indies, and seven Tests in Australia, picking 79 wickets in 34 innings at an average of 21.59 and strike rate of 47.9. Only four bowlers have outperformed the Indian seamer among bowlers with at least 50 wickets since his Test debut - Stuart Broad (21.55, 47.6), Pat Cummins (20.35, 45.3), Jason Holder (19.04, 44.8), and Ishant (19.14, 41.7).
Only four bowlers have performed better than Bumrah since his Test debut
Only Shami has played as many overseas Tests as Bumrah has since the latter's Test debut although it is Bumrah who has taken the most wickets (79) during the period with only two bowlers outperforming him (among players with at least 20 overseas wickets) - Ishant (20, 44.8) and Cummins (20.41, 43.1).
Only two bowlers have performed better away from home than Bumrah since his Test debut
It has been almost four years since Bumrah last bowled with the SG red, the type used in India, unlike the Kookaburra, with which he picked 52 wickets at 23.51 (in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and the Dukes, with which he picked 27 wickets at 17.88 (in West Indies and England). So the question is, will it be a reason for concern?
Bumrah has a first-class record of 170 wickets in 44 matches at 23.70 in India where pace has averaged far less (24.94) than spin (33.95) since 2018. However, there will be a few changes in techniques that Bumrah will have to show after bowling in conditions where pacers rely more on the swing and hence look for the edges. The SG red will swing far less and for far fewer overs than what he had found in England. Bumrah, whose 49 per cent of his dismissals are either LBW or bowled, will hence have to keep attacking the stumps before relying on the reverse swing that the old ball will offer. Bumrah can take a leaf out of Shami's book who tends to attack the stumps more often than any Indian bowler by hitting the length which isn't quite the traditional good length, but isn't entire short, from which the ball tends to hit the top of off stump. The low and slow pitches in India will also offer Bumrah to bowl the occasional bouncers, who tend to create a rather awkward angle for the batsman with this variety of delivery.
Bumrah has indeed proven to be a champion in overseas conditions, playing a pivotal role in India's rise a pace sensation. On Friday, he will look to conquer home conditions amid the presence of a returning Ishant Sharma.
