Story Behind Jasprit Bumrah's India Debut Revealed, This Star Made Huge Recommendation: "If We Need..."

Jasprit Bumrah is widely regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of his generation and arguably the greatest pacer in the history of Indian cricket. Despite his unusual run-up and action, and repeated injury problems, Bumrah continues to average less than 20 in Test cricket and just over 23 in ODIs. Having made his India debut in 2016, Bumrah went on to form a devastating pace unit alongside the likes of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, particularly in overseas conditions. Now, Ishant has revealed his first impression of Bumrah and how he played a subtle role in Bumrah's entrance into the Indian team.

Ishant recalled that Bumrah's slow, stuttering run-up wasn't part of his game when he first came across him.

"I remember we were playing the List A match, I think it was in 2016 (2015). We were playing the final in Bengaluru, Delhi vs Gujarat. Uss time wo bhaagta tha, properly bhaagte hue bowling karta tha. Abhi jaisa nahi (Back then, he used to have a proper fast bowler's run-up, not like how he does it today). He picked five wickets in that game," Ishant recalled, speaking in an interview with Padamjeet Sehrawat.

Bumrah ran riot in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final between Delhi and Gujarat, finishing with figures of 5/28, as the latter won the match by a mammoth 139 runs to clinch the trophy.

Impressed by the then 21-year-old's bowling, Ishant revealed that he had recommended Bumrah to Indian team director and soon-to-be head coach Ravi Shastri.

"After that, we went to Australia. I told Ravi bhai (Ravi Shastri), 'If we need anyone in this team, it is Jasprit Bumrah'. I told him about Bumrah's action and his bowling. Ravi bhai was the mentor of the team," Ishant narrated.

India had toured Australia for a limited-overs series in 2015/16, during which Bumrah made his India debut.

"Look at his (Bumrah's) luck. Someone got injured, and Bumrah came into the team. From there till now, his mindset and self-belief makes him stand out," Ishant said.

Bumrah made his ODI debut in the fifth and final match of the series, and picked up two wickets as India registered their only 50-over win of the tour.

Bumrah then went on to play all three T20Is, starring with a spell of 3/23 on his debut. Bumrah scalped six wickets during the three-match T20I series, which India ended up clean-sweeping 3-0.

Topics mentioned in this article

Ravi Shastri Jasprit Bumrah Ishant Sharma India Cricket Team Cricket