West Indies vs India: Gavaskar and Bishop slam criticizers of Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling action

Jasprit Bumrah is going from strength to strength as far as his career is concerned. The speedster currently has at least a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and now in the West Indies. He is presently in the Caribbean Islands, playing the two-match Test series. The second Test at the Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica is underway and Bumrah picked up an impressive hat-trick.

He became the third Indian bowler after Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan with a hat-trick in the format. In the meantime, amidst his excellent show with the leather in hand, he also had to face a lot of criticism. Brickbats have been hurled at him surrounding his unusual bowling action. However, Ian Bishop and Sunil Gavaskar stood beside Bumrah, rubbishing all the talks surrounding him.

Bishop and Gavaskar back Bumrah

Bishop, also a former West Indies cricketer, sounded absolutely baffled while commentating. Bishop said that those who are raising questions on Bumrah’s actions, don’t know anything about cricket as per a report in Mid-Day. Moreover, Bishop also urged them to take a good look at themselves in the mirror. Bumrah was unplayable on the second day as he accounted for six out of the seven wickets.

Thereafter, former Indian cricketer, Gavaskar fired in a line, mentioning that those people should get their eyes checked. After a while, when Bumrah’s actions were displayed on screen, the legendary Gavaskar stated that the bowler’s arm was ram-rod straight and there was no question of a bend.

As far as Bumrah’s hat-trick is concerned, he first got rid of Darren Bravo, who was unable to handle the steep bounce generated by the seamer. In the very next ball, Shamarh Brooks, playing his second Test, bagged a golden duck after being struck in front. Roston Chase fell prey to Bumrah then. Chase also got a golden duck, but his dismissal wasn’t straight forward.

The on-field umpire didn’t give him out initially and Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, used the Decision Review System (DRS). Replays put forth the legitimacy of the dismissal and the on-field decision had to be reversed. He also nipped out John Campbell, Kraig Brathwaite and Jason Holder.

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