"Is he throwing it or is this a correct action?" - Jasprit Bumrah's coach recalls childhood tales amid ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Jasprit Bumrah's childhood coach Kishore Trivedi has said that peers of the pacer were left confused when they first saw his bowling action as a youngster. Trivedi said that he looked at the 31-year-old's action closely for three days before concluding that there was nothing wrong and he wasn't chucking the ball.

He further added that Bumrah was capable of bowling yorkers from a young age and other boys were afraird of facing him. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Trivedi said:

“When Jasprit first came to the nets, he had this odd action. The boys were confused. They were asking me, is he throwing it or is this a correct action? They thought he was throwing it. I observed his action closely for three days. It was absolutely fine, there was nothing ‘chuck’ about it.

“It’s an odd action, so the boys were confused. But I was also surprised at how much speed he could generate at 16. His run-up was 10 or 12 yards, but he generated so much speed, so the boys were afraid to face him, because it was bouncing so much. And already, he could bowl a very good yorker.”

Trivedi also admitted that he told Bumrah not to change his bowling action, when other coaches were trying to work around bowlers with odd actions like his. He felt that Bumrah's bowling action came naturally to him and did not need any tinkering.

“I was clear with what I thought about his action. So many boys are changing their action, so many coaches trying to change them. But I gave my advice: don’t change.

“I said to Jasprit: ‘You should not change your action. That is your weapon. Don’t change anything about it. You can change your line and length, where you aim the ball. But this is your original action, it’s natural. And you never change natural,’" he said.

Jasprit Bumrah's childhood coach reveals the pacer's routine as a young cricketer

Widely regarded by many as the best fast bowler in world across formats, Jasprit Bumrah's rise in the game has been one of hard work and countless hours in the nets, perfecting different types of deliveries. His childhood coach Kishore Trivedi explained how the pacer went about bettering his yorker specifically when he was young.

"We trained constantly. Lots of different types of training, line and length, accuracy. To improve his yorkers, we did spot bowling. We would choose an area, a very small target, the size of the ball. He would have to hit it, 10 to 15 times in a row. I would reward him or punish him if he did well or badly. One hour bowling was compulsory. No water, no rest, every day until he kept hitting it. His accuracy increased, so the number of times he missed decreased," Trivedi said.

With India 1-2 down in the five Test series against England, they have a big decision to make whether to include Bumrah for the just the fourth Test match at Old Trafford or for the remaining two Tests. He has taken 12 wickets in the two matches that he has played so far, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings of both matches.