It's more about mindset than skill for Jasprit Bumrah, believes Glenn McGrath

Jasprit Bumrah’s struggle in New Zealand has been well documented. After failing to impress in the three-match ODI series, the bad form has been translated to the Test arena. In the Test series opener at Basin Reserve, Bumrah managed just one wicket in 26.4 overs in a heavy loss for India. Giving his two cents on the pacer's career, Australia’s greatest fast bowler reckoned that how well Bumrah copes with this phase during his comeback will shape his career. 

"It comes back to the individual and how well he knows himself and how well he has done previously. So, yeah, Jasprit Bumrah, he's still quite young and he's got a couple of good seasons, but this would be the making of him. It's more about the mindset,” said McGrath as quoted by Cricinfo.

"Coming back from injury is more like starting the season. If you finish the season up here [indicating a high level with his hand], the next season you want to start back up here. It doesn't work that way and it took me a few seasons to work that out. I thought this is where I want to get to [the high level] and I'm starting the season again or coming back from injury, I'm starting down here [at a lower level]. So, I've to realise that and allow myself a few matches to get into where I want to get to and get on that upward slope. I think that's probably the biggest issue - the expectations from everyone, back in the team I've got to pick up exactly from where I left off."

Bumrah has been one of India’s top performers with the ball over the last few years, especially in the longest format. He made his debut in Tests in South Africa in 2018 and has played all his 13 matches so far on foreign soil to claim 63 wickets. Before the Wellington game, Bumrah played his last Test match in the West Indies last August-September and took a hat-trick in that match in Kingston. He made a return to the national team in the limited-over series against Sri Lanka at home last month before going to New Zealand. He took six wickets in the five T20Is but went wicketless in the three ODIs that followed. McGrath stressed on the importance of a positive mindset and clarity in thought, explaining bowlers usually need time to feel their way back into action.

"And if you identify that you've got things in place, then your thought process is, 'Okay this is what I want to achieve this game and it's about the process. Getting the ball coming out well, bowling the areas I want and then building it up each match.' If you got that way, the process, two or three matches, you're back up at the top. But, he has played only one match and everyone is into him. That's how it goes."

Prior to his T20I comeback, Bumrah had been pulled out of Gujarat's Ranji Trophy fixture. Many felt that he should have allowed to test out his fitness in four-day cricket before coming back to international cricket. But McGrath felt it is more of a personal decision as the player understands his body better than anyone else.

"Sometimes, it is a better way, otherwise no, it's about the player themselves -  where they are at and what they're looking to achieve. To me, it's more how we he bowled. Did he bowl a heap of rubbish? Then maybe there's a few issues. Did he bowl well and didn't take a wicket? One-day cricket is not about taking wickets. Early on you want to take wickets but it's about containment. T20 cricket is sort of similar, and it's about how well he's bowling”, he added.