Mental agility over physical prowess? 23-year-old Jasprit Bumrah proves it right

Mental agility can be stronger than physical prowess — as cricketer Jasprit Bumrah showed in the IPL (and hopefully will do so in the Champions Trophy too). Rohit Sharma and Shane Bond laud the youngster’s ability to bowl under pressure.

He is known as ‘Bum’ in the team and though only 23, Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling coach Shane Bond feels Jasprit Bumrah has a lot of maturity. Enough for former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden to label the youngster as the No 1 T20 player — the bowler has grown to be a death overs specialist, managing to get wickets and at the same time, give away few runs thanks to the yorkers he bowls.

Just after the sensational IPL final, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and Bond revealed how the team had built the bowling attack around the “mentally strong” Bumrah. He has the ability to perform well in any condition, according to Bond. “The way the guy [Bumrah] is bowling in this tournament, if he carries this form through to the Champions Trophy, he’s going to play a big role in India’s success. He always bowled the pressure overs because he has got the skills. He is so mentally strong. When you start to base your attack around a bowler like Jasprit, that shows a lot of his quality. He will become a world-class bowler across all formats,” he said.


Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond. (Image: BCCL)

Sharma tried to play down the pressure and expectations that have grown on Bumrah. “I would prefer not to say that he is the World No 1 bowler. Right now, he is doing a great job. All those things will only put pressure on him. He knows what his capabilities are and he has shown it when he bowled that Super Over to probably the best T20 batters in the world in [Brendon] McCullum and [Aaron] Finch and defended 11 runs for us. He has got the ability to be the number 1 bowler in the world,” said Sharma.

With the Champion’s Trophy starting on June 3 in England, Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be looking to Bumrah to continue his fabulous death bowling and form in the 50-over game. “He [Bumrah] has got a skill set that is going to make him a successful bowler. It is his first 50 over tournament in England, so it will be a little difficult,” added Bond.