“He is a complete package” - Steve Smith breaks down Bumrah’s success

It’s Jasprit Bumrah’s third tour of Australia and the Gujarat pacer has made it a habit of sneaking it big-time in each of these tours. Also leading the side in the first Test, the pacer bagged eight wickets in Perth to hand India a majestic 295-run victory. 

So impactful was he in the first innings that the Australian top-order was blown to smithereens in his first spell. Steve Smith was the casualty in the first innings when an inducker skidded through to trap him lbw. Enamoured by Bumrah’s bowling, Smith heaped praise on the pacer and called him a “complete package of a bowler”.

“From the start of his run-up it’s just all awkward,” Smith told the Age. “The way he runs in is different to pretty much anyone else, then the last bit of his action is different. I’ve faced him a reasonable amount now, and each time you face him it takes a few balls just to get the rhythm of it in a way.

“He releases the ball closer to you than any other bowler, just the way he does it. So maybe it rushes you a bit more than you think, and it’s just an awkward action. Put that together with his skill set, he swings it both ways, he can nip it off the seam, he can reverse it, got a good slower ball, a good bouncer, he’s pretty much the complete package as a bowler.”

Meanwhile, former Aussie pacer Damien Fleming called the India vice-captain a “very instinct-driven bowler”, whose understanding of his strengths and weaknesses are impeccable. Citing the instance of the famous slower ball to Shaun Marsh in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Fleming said Bumrah has evolved as a bowler and continuously upgraded himself.

“He’s just the Terminator isn’t he,” Fleming says. “He knows his strengths and he’s always sniffing to find that weakness. I think he does that instinctively, and it’s not a long run-up, but I can see he’s reviewed that ball, and then he’s planning the next one.

“There’s that famous dismissal of Shaun Marsh [at the MCG in 2018] in the over before lunch. I was commentating at the time, and I could almost pick what was going to happen, just driving him back, so his weight’s on the back foot, and then he bowls that superb slower ball and knocks him over. It was either going to be that slower ball or a fast yorker. So I think he is so astute, but he also now has all the skills.

“Outswingers, inswingers, off-cutters, slower balls, excellent yorker, bouncer. So when you’ve got more skills, you’ve got more options. Like the Terminator he’s always stalking the batsmen. And the batsmen know that, but they’re still unsure what’s coming. Not only does he have a wide skill set, but he executes it better than anyone in world cricket,” Fleming added.

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