Former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim showered praise on Jasprit Bumrah for bowling an accurate line and length after he dismissed Harry Brook with an incoming delivery on the opening day of the Lord’s Test. Bumrah is making a return to the playing XI after he was rested for the second Test at Edgbaston to manage his workload.
After going wicketless in the first two sessions despite bowling economically, Bumrah was able to breach Brook’s defense as he found the small gap between bat and pad to hit the top of off-stump.
Brook had scored a fine knock of 158 runs in the first innings of the second Test and he was an important wicket for the visitors.
“Jasprit Bumrah finds a gap even if there is none. The ball pitched and came in. This is an area the Indian pacers have exposed. The same thing happened with Harry Brook in the previous Test match, and Jasprit Bumrah targeted the same area here also,” Saba Karim said on Star Sports.
Karim noted that Bumrah found his rhythm after the tea interval and Brook had no answer against India’s pack leader.
“The ball was bowled with a precise length, and he got a lot of seam movement off the wicket, and Harry Brook wasn’t ready for that. Bumrah took a little time to settle in his initial spell. However, this was the phase where he had found his rhythm,” Saba observed.
The former Indian selector highlighted that Brook had to pay the price for a technical error against Bumrah.
“It seemed like he was setting up Brook. He wanted Brook to take more strike against him, and in the end, he created a gap. A gap is created because you don’t pick the length properly, and you try to meet the ball with the bat while standing in your stance. A great bowler like Bumrah just waits for you to make a small mistake,” he elaborated.
On the other hand, former Indian batter Hemang Badani reckons Bumrah could have bowled a tad fuller in the opening spell of the day.
“I felt he could have bowled slightly fuller. The length he was bowling was slightly short for this pitch. It wouldn’t have mattered if a few fours had gone through cover drives or off-drives, but you might have got a wicket there,” he replied.
Meanwhile, England ended the day’s play at 251-4.
