'Teams must have seen endless videos of him' - John Wright on Jasprit Bumrah's woeful form post his comeback

India of late have not only lost some of their key players to injury but also two of their premier players — captain Virat Kohli and seamer Jasprit Bumrah — have lost their respective forms to leave the team struggling. While Kohli has managed just one fifty in the ongoing tour of New Zealand, Bumrah proved to be ineffective in the ODI series as well as the first Test match in Wellington that the visitors lost by 10 wickets.

Bumrah, who made a return to the national side after a few months because of an injury, took six wickets in five T20Is but went wicketless in the three ODIs that followed. The generally miserly bowler also went for a lot of runs. And then in the first Test at Basin Reserve, the skiddy seamer bowled 26 overs to get only one wicket and conceded 88 runs.

As the ace bowler’s form has come under the scanner, former India coach John Wright defended him saying he is just returning from an injury and that has affected his rhythm. The 65-year-old former New Zealand opener, who has seen Bumrah closely during his days as the coach of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), said it can happen to most players.

“He’s coming back after an injury. He’s finding his feet and rhythm again. It can happen to most players. After the highs, there is a plateau,” Wright, who coached India between 2000-05 and whose partnership with the then captain Sourav Ganguly helped India achieve new highs, was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

‘New Zealand also prepared well for Bumrah’: John Wright

Wright also said that New Zealand batsmen also prepared hard for the Bumrah factor. “Teams must have seen endless videos of him. Once you become the lynchpin of an attack, the opposition teams really put you under the scanner and look for methods to cope with you best,” the former player, who is well-versed with the nuances of coaching, said.

Wright advised Bumrah to fight through the tough phases and expressed confidence that the pacer will bounce back. He called the Indian cricketer “intelligent” who would find a way out of his tough situation.

The 26-year-old Bumrah will be bowling next in the second Test in Christchurch where he would eye a sea-change in his performance. The spearhead has 63 wickets from 13 Tests at an impressive average of 20.34.

Watch: Irfan Pathan’s interview post his retirement