Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai
Jasprit Bumrah versus Shubman Gill. And Bumrah versus Abhishek Sharma. These two contests in the nets at the ICC Academy on September 12 were worth keeping an eye on. India’s pace spearhead wasn’t exactly bowling at full tilt but he still seemed to trouble his opponents. It felt as though both Gill and Abhishek were a tad late on the ball. Abhishek did land a good enough pull stroke but even that didn’t go all the way.
This made you wonder what it is about Bumrah that makes it difficult for the opponent to land the big shot. In a broader sense, his hyperextension must be one of the reasons. But there must be more to it than just that.
Maybe it is due to a unique combination of the path of the ball, which is quite flat, and then the awkward bounce from a slightly fuller length. Dig deeper and you could end up with some technicalities – flawless seam presentation and a massive amount of backspin. The magic is certainly in his wrist.
Bumrah’s gift-wrapped backspin also ensured that both Gill and Abhishek were struggling a tad to pick the fuller length. Here, as an example, just consider how a batter as great as Joe Root constantly edges relatively fuller deliveries from Bumrah to the slip cordon. An indicator of Bumrah’s heavy ball.
The session that lasted for well over two hours wasn’t just about Bumrah’s bowling. It had some fun moments too. All the Indian cricketers aimed at a single stump with direct hits. After a few minutes, a smaller stump was kept for the fielders to target. And then, it was a mere water bottle.
There were ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, alongside some claps, as the fielders took turns to rattle the timber with their throws. When the water bottle was kept on the ground by the coaching staff, one couldn’t help but connect it with an oasis in the UAE heat. Hardik Pandya, one of the fielders who had a bullseye throw, was also seen putting in some hair-raising dives in front of a net.
Meanwhile, there was some serious stuff for Sanju Samson. He mistimed a few pulls before sending the ball deep into orbit with a back-and-across movement. Undoubtedly, Samson is putting in the hard yards to improve his game against the short ball. Just a while before that, Shivam Dube was using every ounce of his energy to snap his back hard and extract some bounce. The current management has perhaps told Dube to use his attributes as a bowler to the fullest.
The larger picture to emerge from India’s practice session was that all of them looked relaxed and enjoyed their time at the ICC Academy. From the outside, it didn’t feel like the big-pressure game against Pakistan, on September 14, was affecting them mentally.
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