Virat gives freedom to express: Bumrah
London, June 12: India’s new ‘King of Death’ Jasprit Bumrah has done enough to gain confidence of his skipper Virat Kohli, who in turn has given him freedom to express himself.
“It feels good that the captain has so much of confidence in you that he gives you freedom to do whatever you want. When this happens, a youngster like me can express himself and show what he is capable of,” said Bumrah.
With ability to bowl yorkers at will during slog overs, Bumrah is Kohli’s ‘go to man’ at the death. A tournament economy rate of 4.77 for someone who bowls bulk of his overs in back 10 is commendable. But Bumrah is against being labelled as slog overs specialist. “You know, we don’t focus on these things. You can’t just be labelled as ‘death bowler’ or a swing bowler (in case of Bhuvneshwar Kumar), whenever you are given the ball, you have to contribute. You bowl according to situations — whether at the death or at the beginning. The aim is to stick to a plan and execute it,” Burmrah expressed his reservations being deemed as a ‘one trick pony’.
Touring England for the first time, Bumrah has been picking Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kohli’s brains. “I take inputs from our senior bowlers who have played a lot in these conditions. Our coach (Anil Kumble), Mahi bhai, Virat gives us tips on what are the conditions, discuss plans. It’s of great help,” Bumrah said.
Like his senior partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah also agreed that there is no swing available for bowlers on tracks which are hard and good for batting.
“I don’t know as this is my first visit to England. I have not played here earlier but whatever I heard the ball swings here quite a lot. But so far there has not been any swing available.”
It feels good that the captain has so much of confidence in you that he gives you freedom to do whatever you want. When this happens, a youngster like me can express himself and show what he is capable of. — JASPRIT BUMRAH