Bumrah aces the moments in Kolkata with patience as he bosses percentages with a wicket ball coming along with an extra bit of something.
Irresistible force Bumrah bosses percentages and moments at Eden Gardens.
Is cricket a sport of moments or of percentages?
Jasprit Bumrah is likely to respond with a single word if you ask him this question. Indeed.
He is the only bowler in the world who understands the value of percentages, believes in the process of hammering away in the good-length band, is patient, and refrains from searching for wicket balls.
And 10 overs into the opening Test between South Africa and India at Eden Gardens, Bumrah’s faith in the statistics was keeping the scorecard looking reasonable. In five overs, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj had been dismissed. Bumrah’s numbers were 5-2-9-0.
Did Bumrah use a moments ball or a percentages ball to ultimately break South Africa’s opening partnership? You wager.
This was the ball that Test-match fast bowlers repeatedly bowled to Test-match openers with a mixture of faith and optimism. Pitched on the fuller side of a fair length, angling at the left-handed Ryan Rickelton from around the wicket in an attempt to force the batter to defend and hope something would happen. A little movement. A bit of unusual bounce. Percentages.
In addition to being a percentages bowler because it’s usually a good idea, Bumrah benefits greatly from percentages compared to most fast bowlers. He experiences greater bounce and seam movement than others. He is more likely than most bowlers of his height to obtain extremely high bounce if there is uneven bounce to exploit, making it more difficult for the batter to react when he gets one to keep low.
With both sides’ fast bowlers taking 8 for 61 in 32 overs from one end and 0 for 40 in eight overs from the other, Bumrah was an unstoppable force on this unique day-one pitch at Eden Gardens.
As is already well known, no bowler in history with 200 or more Test wickets has a higher average than Bumrah’s (now 19.52). His 16th Test five-for came on Friday. Among India’s fast bowlers, only Kapil Dev has taken more.
On Friday, Bumrah surpassed Mohammed Shami’s record of 229 Test wickets. He now stands at 231, five behind Javagal Srinath, who is presently ranked fourth among India’s all-time fast-bowling Test wicket-takers.
Why is there such a sudden abundance of numbers? Longevity is one argument that has occasionally been used to refute Bumrah’s claim to be the greatest of all time. Take another look at those figures and consider retiring that argument if you haven’t already.