How Interactions With MS Dhoni Helped Jasprit Bumrah Grow As Leader

Jasprit Bumrah’s rise as a leader isn’t overnight, as one would presume. The 31-year-old, who made his international debut on January 23, 2016, has gone on to become one of the best bowlers in world cricket. 

During that time, Bumrah has broken multiple records, with one of the best strike rates with the ball in Tests. Not just that, Bumrah also has captained India on multiple occasions, including a famous Test win in Perth against Australia. 

Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar revealed an interesting anecdote from Bumrah’s early playing days. In those days, he spent a lot of time in MS Dhoni's close quarters, learning the tricks of captaincy. 

“Bumrah is a great student of the game. I can tell you stories about how he used to sit with MS [Dhoni] and keep asking questions when he first came into the team. When India used to bat, Bumrah used to sit beside MS and keep asking about how the game progressed,” Sridhar told Cyrus Broacha on ‘A Century Of Stories’.

“Bumrah never used to leave MS’s side. He used to keep asking question after question, like an irritating kid who keeps on asking. He was learning and was always curious. Bumrah wanted to break that myth that fast bowlers are not intelligent.”

Eventually, Bumrah broke that mindset in the country by becoming the first pacer since Kapil Dev to lead India in the longest format. Not only was he successful, but Bumrah showed how much of a ‘thinking captain’ he was with incisive bowling changes in India’s famous win in Perth. 

“He used to say that in the open, “Why are fast bowlers called they are not intelligent? Why can’t fast bowlers be intelligent? Why can’t fast bowlers be leaders?” He always wanted to prove and break that myth,” he added. 

“It is a wrong perception that fast bowlers can’t be good leaders because of their workload or various other things.”