Booming Bumrah

PACER, WHO BURST ON TO THE SCENE SIX YEARS AGO, HAS GOTTEN BETTER WITH TIME TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOWLERS OF HIS ERA

- Swaroop Swaminathan

AM Konstas addressed the media on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 19-year-old is all set to become the youngest Test opener ever to have played for Australia. Head coach Andrew McDonald spoke to the media on Tuesday, and then Australia captain Pat Cummins followed on the eve of the Boxing Day Test.

It doesn't matter who comes for a press conference, at some point or other, one of the questions posed in front of them is - How do you counter Jasprit Bumrah?

Even the Indian captain wasn't spared. On Tuesday, he was asked what it is like to have Bumrah in his side and the kind of discussions he usually has with the pacer who is also now his deputy.

Six years ago, it wasn't necessarily the case. Bumrah, at that point, was still a rookie in the longest format but had made a mark with fifers in South Africa and England before coming to Australia. Back then, the mystery was around the unique action - the discussion unfortunately still revolves around it - of a bowler who was coming up the ranks in white-ball cricket.

And then THAT delivery happened at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. India had been searching for wickets on a slow pitch and on the brink of lunch. Sharma, who was standing at mid-off, had suggested Bumrah to try a slower one. These are two brilliant white-ball stars who have played a lot together, coming up with an idea that may or may not work. That was only the first step. The most important one, perhaps, was the execution.