Bumrah chirpy as India prepare for Lords, having bowled for close to an hour during Tuesday’s optional practice session.
Bumrah chirpy and in high spirits as he prepares for Lord’s return.
Morne Morkel, the bowling coach for India, asked whether the ball was old or new. “I’ll definitely take the new ball,” Jasprit Bumrah declared while he rummaged inside the Dukes box for the correct one. After causing what appeared to be an outside edge from Karun Nair with a ball that sailed away fiercely from fair length, Bumrah was appealing animatedly a few minutes later while bending his knees and raising both hands.
Bumrah chose to skip the second Test in Birmingham after being told he would only be able to play three of the five Test matches in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy because of his back problems. Many criticised such choice, believing that India might lose 2-0 if England exploited an inexperienced bowling attack.
Shubman Gill’s players came at Lord’s for their first training session on Tuesday looking relaxed, as those fears did not materialise and India drew even with a commanding victory. No one more so than Bumrah, who has been lively and jovial since the tour’s opening day. When Bumrah saw Nitish Kumar Reddy hit an outswinger with good pace, he said, “good one, Brett Lee.” During a playful time with Bumrah, Shardul Thakur would occasionally bow towards his feet as though in remembrance.
But Bumrah never wavered in his zeal when he had the ball. He didn’t stop bowling for almost an hour. He didn’t care that this was merely optional training and that some of India’s hitters were taking a break. In addition to Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, the new-ball duo who helped India win the Edgbaston Test, Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar were not present. However, as he recovered to play his second Test at Lord’s, Bumrah put Nair, B Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Dhruv Jurel to the test in terms of their patience and skill.
In a period of useful English pitches, the Lord’s pitch was comparatively flat four summers ago, but Bumrah forced himself, creating reverse-swing and keeping batters off balance with his variations. With temperatures in the early 30s (Celsius), the test outlook is fair. Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach for India, declared Tuesday’s pitch to be “challenging” due to its greenish tint. Bumrah has never been worried by pitches. He’ll be licking his lips on Thursday.