Bumrah shows who’s the boss
Stand-in skipper hits Broad for record runs in an over and scalps three while Jadeja scores a ton on Day 2 of Edgbaston Test
Somshuvra Laha
KOLKATA: There is the hit-thedeck kind of delivery that can set up the most rip-roaring bowled and leg-before dismissals, but in England nothing trumps the satisfaction of making the batter chase the ball. On a rain-truncated day at Edgbaston, Jasprit Bumrah conjured that trick thrice—twice off balls that weren’t supposed to be bowled in the first place—to prick the confidence England have built in less than a month. Slips coming into the picture every time, Bumrah delivered just the touch of thrill this Test needed before Mohammed Siraj steamed in to remove the crutch England always lean on when he enticed Joe Root into a most unlikely tickle to Rishabh Pant.
England are still not out of the game. At 84/5, the possibility of an English comeback the home crowds were so used to watching in the home series against New Zealand is still possible but bleak. The only difference is that this being a one-off game England have less of a chance to make things stick. No Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Root, just Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes at the crease, England have unconsciously narrowed down their chances to just two individual innings to get close to India’s first innings total of 416.
Bairstow wasn’t exactly flawless in the time he was there. Neither was Root for the better part of his 67-ball stay. Every delivery aimed at their stumps, testing their defence by hooping through gaps, thudding into their pads and feeling for their edges, England have been forced to realise India aren’t New Zealand.
Not just skill, batting against such a regimented bowling attack needs a fair bit of luck too. Root, the best No 3 in the last two years, was repeatedly beaten all ends up till Siraj got the cross-seam ball to rear from a tight line, grazing the glove as Root was desperately trying to convert the attempt into a cut. The dismissals and
SCORECARD
the struggle only goes to show how well India have done to reach 416.
One-fourths of that total wouldn’t have been possible without Ravindra Jadeja’s vigilant hundred, a knock wonderfully tempered by the rollercoaster fortunes of India. There were times he was subdued, there were times he exploded. But the sum total of it always kept India in the game.
It may well have remained the innings of the day but for Bumrah, who came out to bat against the same bowlers, with far less batting range and always set up for that one fuller delivery that should have been bowled to him as early as possible. But England, especially Stuart Broad, dithered. An inexplicable, almost obstinate insistence on bowling short to Bumrah eventually laid the base for the most expensive over in Test history. Broad was plundered for 35 runs by a No 10, in an over that almost refused to end.
It was the kind of ego-tripping performance England should have avoided given Shami and Bumrah had meted out almost similar thrashing last year when they added 89 for the ninth wicket in the Lord’s win. Instead, it was almost a frame by frame copy of the exhilaration in the India camp and the disappointment in England’s. James Anderson eventually brought India’s innings to a close with his 32nd
Test five-wicket haul but Bumrah’s 16-ball 31* was just the finishing touch the visitors’ innings needed.
That devastating batting took nothing away from Bumrah’s mastery a few minutes later, as he and Shami came out with the sun on their back to turn the match on its head with their seam, swing and control. Lees was cleaned up quickly by a length ball coming from an angle as Bumrah, bowling an extra ball after overstepping the previous delivery, lined him up from a touch wide of the crease. Crawley was the next batter to go. Another full length ball delivery from Bumrah, and Crawley thought it was in the right slot to drive, but he got an outside edge that flew to Shubman Gill at third slip.
England on 27/2, and it was game on. Ollie Pope was looking sharp. He pulled Bumrah and cut Shami for two beautiful boundaries but Bumrah had his response ready with another full-length delivery. Once again off the extra ball, Bumrah pitched it wide and lured Pope into a drive that Shreyas Iyer at second slip managed to hold on in the second attempt. It was a bargain Bumrah would have gladly accepted every single time he would have overstepped.
WATCH: Bumrah slams Broad for most expensive over in Tests