Most of the talk surrounding the India-England Test series has been about spin and pitch. Will the ball turn? How much? From the first hour of the match? This became a national fixation as far as the media of the two countries are concerned. For valid reasons, mind you. Pitches turned heads last year in the series against Australia and also before that.
Beneath all that dust and rubble, something was forgotten. Pace, with crafty use of the seam and intelligence, can be an equally deadly weapon on surfaces not rolled out for speedsters. Pitches where the ball ‘grips’ can be favourable for the faster bowlers as well. They can also make that ‘grip’ work to their advantage if they get it right, in the mind and in the act.
As mentioned by RevSportz before the start of the India-England series, Bumrah demonstrated what exactly this means. He is a vital factor even if the pitches are not designed to favour him in the conventional sense. Usually, a ‘turning pitch’ means the quicker ones are supposed to get nothing out of them.
Bumrah bounced such perceptions out of the park by producing a few sublime spells of high-class seam and swing bowling on a slow-turner in Hyderabad. He made batters hop at times, kept them guessing and delivered the knockout punch from unexpected corners and angles, with subtle use of the wrist. Seldom do you see a fast bowler exploit the slowness of the surface to such telling effect.
He raised Indian hopes by getting rid of Ben Duckett and Joe Root in quick succession in the second innings. Not many might recall, just before dismissing Root, Bumrah had fooled one of the world’s best batters with a slower one that he could only sheepishly scoop over the fielder at cover. Root knew nothing about it. The highlight of that delivery was the build-up. Bumrah lured him into it. This was a fast-bowling equivalent of hypnotism.
This makes Bumrah one of his kind. It’s not only that awkward action or the apology of a run-up or the ability to land yorkers consistently or bowl an uneasy short one off a not-so-short length. He outthinks batters. He bowls a chain of away-going balls — which are a treacherous proposition delivered from that inward angle and shape — and then slips in the incomer to catch them on the wrong foot. Root, eventually, succumbed to one of those soon after in the same over.
His dismissal of Ben Stokes in the first innings was a work of art. This ball was shaping into the left-handed batter who was getting in position for a whack on the on-side. Then, the ball just about stopped a bit — due to the ‘grip’ on the pitch — and then snaked away to knock the stumps off. It was poetry in high-speed motion.
India’s pace exploits have been praised the world over the last few years. They are a pack. If Bumrah doesn’t get you, Shami will. If Shami doesn’t, then it will be Siraj. If Siraj doesn’t, there will someone else. Until recently, there were Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in that list. Take Bumrah away, and then see how potent a force this is or was.
At 30-plus, and with a body susceptible to injuries, there are not many years left of Bumrah. He is a sorcerer, mesmeriser, call whatever you want. There had been no one like him. Chances are negligible that there will be another. For India to make a comeback in this series, he will be the most reliable force. No matter on what kind of pitch!
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— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 29, 2024