India’s superstar pacer Jasprit Bumrah, while giving his opinion on England’s aggressive brand of cricket, which is famously termed as ‘Bazball’, said that he finds it interesting but doesn’t understand it much. Team India is embarking on a new era in Test cricket, with Shubman Gill stepping into a leadership role with able hands of experience like KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah to guide him .
This transition comes at a challenging time, with just few days to the start of India’s tour of England. With a relatively inexperienced batting lineup, notably without the stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, massive responsibilities will fall upon the bowling department, which is set to be led by the formidable Jasprit Bumrah.
Top-ranked Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah believes that playing red-ball cricket in England always presents a different challenge, adding that he is keen to bowl with the Dukes ball and counter the task of picking wickets when the ball gets softer. Jasprit Bumrah, the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year in 2024, will take the field for India when they begin their important five-match Test series against England at Leeds on June 20.
Jasprit Bumrah’s stellar record in Test and England
In his Test career to date, Jasprit Bumrah has played 45 matches to date in his Test career and he took 205 wickets, with an average of 19.40, conceding nearly 2.77 runs per over with a best individual figure of 6 for 27. In Jasprit Bumrah’s Odi career, has played 89 matches to date in his Odi career and he took 149 wickets, with an average of 23.55, conceding nearly 4.60 runs per over with a best individual figure of 6 for 19.
Jasprit Bumrah has played 70 matches to date in his T20 career and he took 89 wickets, with an average of 17.74, conceding nearly 6.28 runs per over with a best individual figure of 3 for 7. Jasprit Bumrah is currently ranked 1st in the ICC Test bowling rankings with a total of 908 points. Jasprit Bumrah is ranked 40th position in the ICC T20 bowling rankings with a total of 523 points.
So far, Jasprit Bumrah has picked 37 wickets in nine Tests in England at an average of 26.27. With Bumrah set to lead a fast-bowling attack featuring Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh in England, he expressed faith over the rest of the pacers coming good in the Test series.
All eyes will be on Team India’s tour of England after the completion of the ongoing IPL 2025. Mumbai Indians (MI) and Jasprit Bumrah are all set to feature in the Eliminator on 30 May against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mullanpur. But ahead of that knockout clash, an interview of the MI pacer went viral, where he was seen talking about the upcoming England tour with former Australia captain Michael Clarke on his Beyond23 Cricket YouTube channel.
Playing in England is always a different challenge- Jasprit Bumrah
As the Indian cricket team moves to a new era with a fresh face, Shubman Gill in the leadership role in Test matches, a challenging time lies ahead with the tour of England fast approaching. With a relatively inexperienced batting set-up without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the added responsibilities come into the bowling department, which will be led by Jasprit Bumrah.
One of the finest all-format pacers, perhaps the best Test bowler for India in ages, Bumrah will lead the bowling pack in challenging English conditions.
“Playing in England is always a different challenge. I always love bowling with the Dukes ball,” said Bumrah in conversation with Michael Clarke on his Beyond 23 podcast.
“But I don’t know how much the Duke’s ball is doing right now because there’s always constant changes to the ball. But the weather, the swinging conditions. And then when the ball becomes soft, there’s always a challenge. So I always look forward to playing in England,” he added while speaking about the challenges faced once the ball gets softer.
The upcoming tour will be Bumrah’s third in England. The 31-year-old believes the bowling line-up of India is capable of troubling any team in any conditions.
“As a bowling unit, we always feel confident that when the batters are being ultra-aggressive, on a given day, anybody could run through and get wickets,” said Bumrah.
He also commented on England’s ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach and said,
“They’re playing an interesting style of cricket, which is interesting because I don’t really understand it too much.”
The five-match Test series against England will start from June 20 to July 4 and will be played in five venues for nearly two months.The first Test will be played in Leeds, then in Birmingham before moving to London’s iconic Lord’s, and the last two Tests will be played in Manchester and The Oval.
The ace pacer was in reckoning for the Test leadership but since he is unlikely to feature in all five Tests, looking at his workload management, the selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar decided to go with Gill instead.
Also Read: ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball