Just when the Indian team was having a horrible time in limited overs cricket. No matter how many runs their batsmen scored or how clinical their fielding was, the bowlers always leaked a mountain of runs at the death.
Indian selectors had tried and tested almost every medium pacer from the domestic circuit without enjoying much success. They tried Ishant Sharma, they tried, Varun Aaron. They tried Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Jaydev Unadkat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rishi Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, everyone.
Even veterans of domestic cricket like Pankaj Singh and Sreenath Arvind were called upon. No one except Shami inspired confidence.
The Australian Tour at the start of this year raised too many questions. Indian team lost the first four ODIs even after the batsmen managed to score 300 runs in almost all the games. Just when the fans thought things can't get worse, Bhuvneshwar Kumar got injured, less they knew that this will prove to be a blessing in disguise.
A young boy from Gujarat with an unconventional action was brought into the team as his replacement. Jasprit Bumrah finished with a figure of 40/2 and Indian team registered their first victory on the tour. What made this debut special was the fact that he bowled 11 yorkers in that match, an art that is almost forgotten in India.
What followed in next two months was not less than a fairy tale for Bumrah. With his ability to swing the ball both ways, bowl bouncers at a good pace and hits yorkers consistently towards the death overs, Bumrah is already hailed as one of the complete bowlers in world cricket at present.
His impact in the team can be known by the fact that the Indian team has lost just 1 match since his debut. Even M.S. Dhoni has underlined his impact on the team on more than one occasion.
Let’s not compare him with Pathan, RP Singh or Praveen Kumar
However, there's one thing that we should not forget these are just his early days and raising the bar of expectations can often lead to disappointments. Remember the young left arm fast bowler from Vadodara who became a star in no time and was once seen as the future of the Indian team where is he now.
In case you haven't guessed it by now I'm talking about Irfan Pathan. He looked so promising at the beginning of his career but as soon as he lost his swing, he lost his place in the side too.
Remember R.P. Singh, the highest wicket taker of the 2007 T20 World cup or Munaf Patel who was once compared to the Australian legend Glenn McGrath or 'the king of swing'’ Praveen Kumar.
Indians have this tendency of comparing players with the greats after a couple of good performances and when they have a few bad games we run out of patience.
Another thing that has to be considered here is that Bumrah has an unusual action, an action which most of the players haven't seen before. This surely acts as a surprise element but the question is with the kind of technology and analysis we have these days for how long can it work in his favor?
Everything is recorded these days and batsmen spend a lot of time watching these tapes to prepare against the opposition. It's just the matter of time before this will be neutralized.
We all know what Sehwag did to Ajantha Mendis. The man who was fastest to 50 ODI wickets then is no more a mystery bowler. He is having a hard time to replace a 37-year old Rangana Herath in the Sri Lankan team.
Sohail Tanveer took the world by storm in his initial days and even won the purple cap in the inaugural edition of IPL on his way but now he is not even in the race for a spot in the Pakistan team. Even the magician Malinga was destroyed by Virat Kohli and is no more seen as a threat.
Having said that Bumrah is still very young and has time on his part. He will evolve with every game he plays. 15 wickets in 11 t20s with an economy rate of 6.15 and a strike rate of just 15 are definitely the numbers of a champion.
Doesn't matter how harsh international cricket is, it always respects the one who is eager to learn. As fans we should all be patient and enjoy the moments this youngster is offering us rather than expecting more.
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