BUMRAH MAGIC IN BISHOP'S WORDS

The pacer was one of the key architects of India's title triumph. Gomesh S talks to former WI pacer to understand what makes him special...

- Gomesh S

JASPRIT Bumrah, who took 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 while his economy was an unbelievable 4.17, was the Player of the Tournament in India's titlewinning campaign at the recently-concluded 2024 Men's T20 World Cup. In a conversation with this daily, former West Indies legend and commentator Ian Bishop delves deep into his admiration for Bumrah and what makes the Indian pacer special and more. Excerpts...

On his last spell in final

He is a genius with the ball in hand. So often we attribute that characteristic to batters in the game of cricket. But Bumrah is magic, a generational talent, and the thing that strikes me is his ability to do it across formats. His control of his length combined with his line is one compartment. His ability to choose when to bowl his variation and land it accurately. The third is something that has always impressed me about him is that just his ability to know when to bowl what. You could sense that in those two overs, he was going to change the game and he did.

On his T20 WC figures

It is mind-blowing, but at the same time, it's inspiring because it gives this generation something to aim for. They see what excellence is live and direct and upfront in our face. And those numbers speak to a couple of things. His unrelenting accuracy, his ability to have a full package of variation, the yorker, the short ball, the slow ball, the cutter and to deliver it at important times. So we can look at the bowling mandate of this WC which has been with not a century scored in the tournament in the modern T20 game is mind-blowing. But his economy rate there says that here's a guy who has earned his respect.

I know from bowling with Curtly Ambrose and those guys on one side, they earn the respect of the opposition batters and then the batters look to come at the weaker bowler. But earning that respect comes through very good bowling over a sustained period of time. And Bumrah certainly has been doing that.