Any batsman will think twice before taking Jasprit Bumrah on: Mitchell Johnson

There were apprehensions all around when Jasprit Bumrah was named in India’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa earlier this year. The reasons were pretty obvious. While Bumrah was already India’s pace spearhead in the limited-overs format, there were apprehensions over his abilities with the red-ball. Bumrah relied on his variations to get the work done with the white-ball, a trick that rarely helps the pacers do well in the longest format of the game.

However, the talented cricketer from Gujarat proved his detractors wrong in style. He impressed one and all with his ability to bowl at a great pace and finished the tour of South Africa as India’s standout bowler. Bumrah made his debut during the series against South Africa and finished it with 14 wickets in three games including a five-wicket haul. He then missed the first two Tests in England due to an injury but made an instant impact when he returned, picking up 14 wickets with another five-wicket haul in the last three Tests.

Mitchell Johnson picks Bumrah

Bumrah has impressed with the red-ball in the ongoing Test series against Australia too. The speedster has given India crucial breakthroughs throughout the four Australian innings so far. In the first Test at Adelaide, he picked up six wickets. At Perth, it was he who gave India the much-needed first breakthrough by dismissing Aaron Finch and ending the century-plus stand between the Australian openers. Bumrah had dismissed skipper Tim Paine in the first innings. In the second innings, he picked up three wickets.

Not only that, he is also causing all sorts of trouble for the opposition batsmen with his fiery bouncers and express pace. Bumrah’s exploits in Tests have impressed many and one of them is former Australia speedster Mitchell Johnson.

In a recent interview, Johnson praised the Indian pace attack but picked Bumrah as the best of the lot.

“There is no doubt that they have bowled well as a unit over the past year or so and regularly picked 20 wickets in overseas conditions. They just need to assess the conditions and the pitch better and hit the right length quickly. Ishant Sharma has been around for a while. He is hitting the bat hard, which is a good sign, but needs to be more consistent with his line.

Mohammad Shami has a smooth action and has the ability to surprise batsmen with the occasional short ball. Umesh Yadav seems to have added a yard of pace but does not swing it much these days, but the bowler who impressed me most is Jasprit Bumrah,” he told The Times of India.

The Australian who played with Bumrah for Mumbai Indians in IPL, further said that Bumrah is very consistent and hardly bowls a bad ball. 

“He has a unique action, but is very consistent with his line and length. He hardly bowls a loose delivery, which means he is hard to score off and any batsman will think twice before taking him on. The pressure he creates at one end often leads to wickets tumbling at the other end,” Johnson added.

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~ Written by Bijoy

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