Ravi Shastri asserts Jasprit Bumrah has the X-factor

Bumrah has been long regarded as a T20 format specialist after his impressive ability to bowl accurate yorkers made him a ‘death-over’ bowler as he cemented his place in the national team over the last year. After being called up for the Test series versus South Africa, the young bowler has impressed fans and critics alike with an impressive performance against daunting opponents. He picked up 5 wickets in the third Test in Johannesburg which the visitors managed to win despite all odds. Over the course of three matches, Bumrah picked up a total of 14 wickets, just one shy of teammate Mohammed Shami who picked 15, with an economy rate of 3.14 in what was just the first Test series of his career.

India coach, Ravi Shastri, was full of praise for the Gujarat-born pacer as he said in an interview with The Hindu, “We knew the kind of bowler we wanted. He had some qualities we were looking for. Bumrah has the X-factor.” 

Indian skipper, Virat Kohli was also all praise for his teammate as he felt that the former’s transition from the T20 format to the Test format had been truly exemplary.

“He really wanted Test cricket badly and has shown what a high-class bowler he is. He probably bowled with the experience of a guy who has played 40-50 games. If you see his pitch map, only three balls today were full-length deliveries, everything was length and back of the length, and he really made life difficult for the South African batsmen,” Kohli said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

“He fits perfectly into the ideal XI for us. He is someone that has given us breakthroughs when wanted in the series, he has bowled his heart out. So, I am really happy for him.” 

Bumrah came into the spotlight while playing for the Mumbai Indians franchise in the Indian Premier League and since then his rise has been phenomenal as some months back he was considered good only for limited overs matches. 

“I am really delighted for him, he is someone who works really hard on his game, and he has certainly come a long way from being a limited-overs specialist to doing outstandingly well on this tour. I am really, really happy for him,” Kohli added.

Bumrah will now return to the franchise that gave him a platform to express his talent as he gears up for an intense IPL season, along with national side teammates Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.