'Met him for 1st time in 2015, always try to talk to him': Bumrah names bowler who played 'major role' in learning curve
"I always try to talk to him, even when I am not here and with the Indian team. It has been a good journey and hopefully every year, I keep learning something new and try to add new things to my bowling. He has played a major role in that," Bumrah said.
Jasprit Bumrah has gained his place as one of the best fast-bowlers in cricket (if not the best) with impeccable performances in the last 5 years. Bumrah has been the lead bowler for India and Mumbai Indians while captains of both the side has been depended on him to provide a breakthrough or stop the follow of runs.
Bumrah has an immaculate yorker, a deceptive slower one and deadly bounder in his arsenal which has made life difficult for batsmen around the world.
However, Bumrah has had help along the way during his cricket career. Bumrah has said that he shares a great relationship with Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond and that the former Kiwi fast bowler has constantly helped him evolve and add new things to his bowling arsenal.
In a video shared by Mumbai Indians on Twitter, Bumrah said: "I met him for the first time in 2015. As a child I had seen him bowl and was always very fascinated with how he used to bowl for New Zealand and how he used to operate. When I met him over here it was a good experience. He helped me a lot to open my mind to different things that I could try on the cricket field. That was very good and that relationship has only gotten better each and every year."
"I always try to talk to him, even when I am not here and with the Indian team. It has been a good journey and hopefully every year, I keep learning something new and try to add new things to my bowling. He has played a major role in that. It's been a great relationship and hopefully this continues for many years to come."
Over the last few years, India's pace bowling attack has risen through the ranks to be counted among the best in the business. And with the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand coming up in Southampton, skipper Virat Kohli will once again turn to the likes of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma to hand the team the upper hand.
While Ishant, Bumrah and Shami are proven performers, what is heart-warming is the emergence of the back-up unit in Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and T Natarajan. And one man who deserves credit for creating this pool of pacers is none other than bowling coach Bharat Arun.
With the biggest battle round the corner -- WTC final -- the bowling coach believes the team has the firepower to go the distance. In fact, he says India's consistent performance over the last season is the reason why they made it to the final of the Test championship.
In fact, India and New Zealand are the top two teams respectively in the ICC Men's Test team rankings after the annual update was carried out on Thursday.
(with ANI inputs)
