"It Felt A Bit Strange": Mohammed Shami's Initial Reaction On Seeing Jasprit Bumrah's Bowling Action For First Time

Considered to be one of the best bowlers in the world currently, Jasprit Bumrah is also famous for his bowling action which is very different from other pacers in world cricket. The speedster made his Team India debut on January 23, 2016, in an ODI match and hasn't looked back since then. Speaking to The Indian Express, Bumrah's India teammate Mohammed Shami opened up about his initial reaction on seeing him bowl for the first time and revealed that "it felt a bit strange".

"The first time I saw him was during the IPL. It felt a bit strange seeing him because of his bowling action. I wondered how someone could bowl so fast with that action and where he got the power from. When he got drafted in the Indian team, I knew him better. He performed and became part of the Test team. Today, you see a different Jasprit Bumrah. He has such control, he has everything", said Shami.

Initially, Bumrah garnered national attention for his displays in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Mumbai Indians (MI). Having always represented MI, he made his IPL debut in 2013 and has so far bagged 130 wickets in 106 games in the competition. He is also tenth in the standings for highest wicket-takers in IPL.

Since making his ODI debut, he also made his T20I debut on January 26 in 2016 and also played his first Test match on January 6, 2018.

Shami also lauded Bumrah's ability to bowl yorkers and said that he would love to have that skill "from him".

"The one thing I would love to have from him is his yorker. Such a lovely ball. It's fun to bowl together. With the kind of Test match bowling we have now, I don't think we ever had such a period in our cricketing history. If you look at our graph for the last five years, I feel it is the highest", he said.

"I enjoy bowling with Jassi, Umesh, Ishant and all of them. We know each other's ability. The best quality of this bowling unit is that whenever someone is down, we lift each other up and give confidence. These are the things one remembers in life. We walk together through thick and thin", he further added.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Mumbai Indians Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Shami IPL 2022 Cricket