Image Credit- AP
Jasprit Bumrah does not bowl in order to get outs. Say
what? Among the 162 players who have claimed 100 ODI wickets, he has the
16th-best strike rate. So how can it be argued that he bowls in order to take
wickets?
Since he doesn’t. I’ll explain. Although Bumrah is an
excellent wicket-taker, he doesn’t do so as frequently as Mohammed Shami and
Kuldeep Yadav, two of his Indian counterparts. Only slightly better than
Yuzvendra Chahal’s strike rate of 30.9, which is just under two wickets a game,
is his strike rate of 30.7.
He is too prideful to bowl in hopes of scoring. The
act of wicket-taking bowling is perfectly acceptable, but occasionally it
requires taking risks. He has too much faith in himself to use himself as the
attack’s essential element. The fact that Bumrah nearly never fires the first
shot is evidence of his talent and physical preparedness. If there isn’t
assistance on the pitch.
The truest Feroz Shah Kotla square in a long time was
used for India’s second World Cup game, and Bumrah knew right away that he
needed to bowl on a good length or short of a good length. According to
ESPNcricinfo’s logs, 43 of the 60 balls he delivered were thrown there. Six
more yorkers were considered non-standard wicket-taking balls. In a match when
273 was chased down in 35 overs, he elicited more false responses from the
batsmen than any other player.
“I am not result oriented,” Bumrah said.
“Just because I have taken four wickets, that doesn’t mean that I am very,
very happy or I have done something extraordinary. I just go with my
preparation. I go with the process that I feel is right. I try to read the
wickets and try to find the best answers that work on that wicket.
“As simple as that, not thinking about the
results because I’ve got results today, I’m very, very good, that doesn’t work
in my book. I try to back my strengths, try to read the wicket, and try to give
my best.”
Bumrah’s decision to hold off on using the outswinger
in international cricket, despite practising it in the nets, is an illustration
of his skill. If he used a delivery that he hadn’t yet mastered, he could give
the batter a simple delivery. No bowler in the modern age is more unconcerned
with how many wickets he takes, yet he keeps taking them.