Virat Kohli said to Shastri 'Ravi bhai, sabse mushkil hai isko khelna. Mujhe pata nahi lag raha...': Bharat Arun recalls
Imagine outsmarting Virat Kohli with the bowl in one of your very first face off and gaining a thumbs up for the performance. One would call it stuff of dreams, but a young India pacer dared to turn it into reality and the rest is history.
Virat Kohli is often hailed as a modern-era great. With plethora of runs under his belt and umpteen records to his name, Kohli is one of those rare cricketers to have mastered all the three formats of the game. Not to forget, Kohli also has one of the best records as a captain, especially in Tests, where he took India to new highs during his seven-year tenure. In a nutshell, Kohli is a legend of the game. Now imagine outsmarting him with the bowl in one of your very first face off and gaining a thumbs up for the performance. One would call it stuff of dreams, but a young India pacer dared to turn it into reality and the rest is history.
Bharat Arun, India's former bowling coach, in conversation with Cricbuzz on the first episode of 'Rise of New India', recalled Jasprit Bumrah's face off with Kohli in the nets in South Africa ahead of the start of the 2018 Test series. It wasn't however their first meeting. They faced each other in five previous IPL seasons with Bumrah dismissing him only once, back in 2013, in the first ever over he bowled to Kohli. The Indian captain, however, managed to gain a significant edge over Bumrah in T20s.
But by the time Bumrah had arrived in the nets in Cape Town with eye to make a debut for India in the red-ball format, the then 24-year-old was already a white-ball maverick.
Arun recalled that India had arrived 10 days prior to the start of the series and had a centre-wicket practice session where Kohli was up against Bumrah. He said that Kohli was so impressed with the fast bowler that he went straight to Ravi Shastri, the then India head coach, and admitted that he was the toughest of the bowlers to face because he couldn't really pick his release point.
“We went about 10 days early to South Africa. We had a centre-wicket practice. And Virat was so impressed with Bumrah. I still vividly remember Virat, after playing him, came to Ravi and said, ‘Ravi bhai, sabse mushkil hai isko khelna. Mujhe pata nehi lag raha hai kab woh release kar raha hai (Ravi, he was the toughest bowler to face. I couldn’t figure out when he is releasing the ball)...and I pick him a fraction later than the other bowlers',” Arun said.
The 60-year-old then added that after the practice session Bumrah had revealed saying that he wasn't really bowling to his full potential because he felt that the wicket was unfair for the batters and that they are his own teammates. Arun said that he knew at that moment that Bumrah was set for his Test debut in Cape Town.
“Then we took a closer look and said that the first Test we can definitely go with Bumrah because he was quick. I also remember him telling me that the wickets were nice and juicy. He said, 'Sir, I am not going all out because it is not fair. These wickets are too helpful. I am not going all out because they are our batters'. This to me was really, really impressive. Everyone who played him were impressed with Bumrah in that practice session. Hence, it was a no-brainer to play Bumrah instantly in the first Test,” he said.
