ENG vs IND | Jasprit Bumrah is a world-class bowler, opines Jonny Bairstow

Bumrah had gone to the first Test against England at Trent Bridge after a wicketless run in his last three outings in the format. The most recent of those came in the all important WTC final against New Zealand seven weeks ago. The indifferent run did raise a few concerns before the start of the five-match series against England, before the speedster redeemed himself in fine style in Nottingham.

Bumrah dismissed Rory Burns in the very first over of the game, and finished with 4/46 in England’s first-innings score of 183. He went one better in the second, registering his sixth Test five-for, which included the key wicket of centurion Joe Root.

England batsman Jonny Bairstow rated Bumrah as a world-class bowler who can excel in all conditions. He further added that the right-arm quick has got amazing skills for all three formats, which makes him a difficult bowler to face.

"Well, I can’t tell you all the discussions (about Bumrah), look we know that Bumrah has got amazing skills, doesn’t he?” Bairstow said in a conference call arranged by broadcaster Sony, ahead of the second Test at Lord’s. 

“We also got to give him credit, he is a world-class bowler, isn't he? We have seen that in the IPL, we have seen that in white-ball cricket for India and also in red-ball cricket. With his action, he varies on the crease as to where his delivery points are, and we all know as well and he (is) slightly different in his action with his run up and then just his action in general.”

Bumrah has only played two of his 21 Tests at home which have fetched him four wickets, while he has bagged 88 scalps in the 19 away games. 23 of those have come in England from five Tests, including the most recent one at Trent Bridge.

Bairstow believes that India’s fast-bowling spearhead is well suited for English conditions.

“Bumrah has only played only 20 (21) Tests, within that is going to be periods of time when – there have been six (five) in England, judging by the last series as well, so there is going to be times when bowlers adapt and change their skill-sets in some conditions, they will be more suited to other conditions,” he said.

The Yorkshire batsman stated that his approach to batting entirely depends on the conditions on offer, while maintaining that adaptability is a key to succeed as a Test batsman.

“It depends on the pitch, if it is sunny or cloudy, I think we saw that in the first Test, conditions changed with overheads and when the floodlights came on, when it was sunny, they changed again,” he remarked.

“It is difficult to say this is my approach, I can’t see a change in too much from the last game. I have not played a lot of red ball cricket recently due to the scheduling and everything like that. If I continue the process and every-thing I did in this first Test, then that is the kind of approach I want to go with.

"When playing in India compared to England, you have different types of pitches, that we saw in Ahmedabad and Chennai, for instance, so they are naturally different and need different skill-sets. So, look adaptability is the key when it comes to test cricket in general in conditions and being adaptable is more important." 

The second Test between England and India will be played at Lord’s, beginning Thursday, August 12.