15 Interesting Facts About Jasprit Bumrah; India's Death Over Specialist

Jasprit Bumrah has been a revelation for Indian cricket. He is undoubtedly the best death bowler of the current era. India has always had a very poor record in the death overs, but the powerful Indian batting line-up covered up in most cases. However, with Bumrah’s unplayable yorkers and that too with a very high level of consistency, the Indian death bowling standards have improved.

Bumrah grabbed all the attention straight away with his unique bowling style and his peculiar release point. His action made it difficult for the batsmen to read his deliveries. The youngster has come a long way, from his IPL debut at 19 for Mumbai Indians to being India’s death bowling specialist. The best part of Bumrah has always been his consistency. Currently, Bumrah is ranked 3rd and 4th in the ICC rankings for bolwers in ODIs and T2oIs respectively. He also made his Test debut recently in the ongoing Test series against South Africa.

Here are a few interesting facts about the sensational Indian seamer.

1. Birth and Career

Jasprit Bumrah was born on December 6th, 1993 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He decided to play professional cricket at the age of 14. He is a right fast-medium bowler who started playing for Gujarat. He soon got rewarded with an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians. The 24-year-old has never looked back since then, he quickly became India’s most dependable bowler in limited overs cricket.

2. Huge loss at the age of 7

He lost his father at a very tender age of seven years. From then on, Bumrah’s mother who was a school Principal raised him single-handedly. Bumrah always wanted to settle in Canada but he realized his passion for the sport when he was 14 and worked very hard to improve his game.

3. Exceptional debut in first-class cricket

He played his first game for Gujarat in the 2013-14 season against Vidarbha. Bumrah, with his unique slingy action, picked seven wickets in his debut match. He eventually picked the most number of wickets in the tournament for Gujarat.

4. First noticed by John Wright

Former Mumbai Indians coach, John Wright was the first one to notice the spark in Bumrah. He saw him during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and was impressed by the young lad.

5. Dream IPL debut in 2013

Following an exceptional domestic season, Jasprit Bumrah was offered to play for the Mumbai Indians in 2013. The young quickie impressed everyone, right from his first game. Despite being hit for a couple of boundaries by Virat Kohli, he got him out in his very first over. A 19-year old, Bumrah went on to pick two more wickets in the game. His 3-32 against RCB in his first game impressed the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, John Wright, and Rohit Sharma. He was used as a surprise package by Mumbai Indians.

6. Malinga’s guidance

Though Jasprit was equipped with various bowling techniques – bouncers, yorkers, slow ball etc, he was very immature in using his abilities. He learned to utilize all of them from Mumbai Indians’ spearhead, Lasith Malinga. The veteran’s guidance helped Bumrah develop as a potential bowler.

7. Bought for a whopping 1.2 crores in 2014

Following a decent season with the Mumbai Indians in 2013, the young lad was bought again but this time for a whopping 1.2 crores, after which, the franchise decided to have him for the upcoming seasons too. Mumbai Indians franchise owner’s special interest in Bumrah made them buy him back for IPL 7. However, in the recently concluded player retentions, Jasprit Bumrah was retained by them along with Skipper Rohit and Hardik Pandya.

8. International debut in 2016

Bumrah’s ability to bowl yorkers consistently and perform well in the death got him a place in the Indian team. He played his first game for India in 2016, a T-20 against Australia. Despite being a regular member of the India-A team since 2014, Bumrah’s debut for India was delayed due to his knee injury. He came back after a gap of almost five months and had a brilliant domestic season, after which he got his maiden international call-up.

9. Highest wicket-taker in his first international series

In the absence of Shami, he was picked to feature in the T-20 series against Australia in 2016. Bumrah played a key role in India sweeping the series 3-0. Bumrah finished the series as the highest wicket-taker.

10. Dhoni named him ‘find of the tour’

Impressed with Bumrah’s performance in Australia, MS Dhoni termed him as the find of the tour. The youngster cemented his place in the Indian team, within no time. He is now India’s specialist in the death overs.

11. Praised by Glenn McGrath

It has always been very tough for the batsmen to read Jasprit Bumrah, mainly due to his unorthodox action. However, Bumrah turned into one of the toughest bowlers to face in the death overs. Bowling alongside Malinga, and Mitchell McClenaghan for the Mumbai Indians, he has done wonders. McGrath praised him for his unique action and abilities to swing the ball. He also asked Bumrah not to change his action.

12. Most number of T20I wickets in a calendar year

Jasprit who debuted in January 2016 against the Aussies became the bowler claiming most number of T20I wickets in a calendar year within seven months. During the two-match series against West Indies, he surpassed Dirk Nannes‘ record by picking 28 wickets.

13. Test debut

He became India’s 290th player in Test Cricket by playing the first Test against South Africa. He picked ABD as his first wicket donning the Whites for India.

14. Sledged ABD

In 2014, when Bumrah got Mr. 360 out in an exemplifying fashion, the young lad became all animated. He celebrated by giving the legend a harsh send-off. However, he realized his mistake and quickly apologized to the star batsman via Twitter.

15. Amitabh Bachchan and Dhokla

Bollywood’s legendary Amitabh Bachchan is Bumrah’s favourite actor. On the other hand, Dhokla – one of the most famous Gujarati dishes is his favorite.

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