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 Jasprit 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.
Ahead of India’s upcoming five-match Test series against England, bowling coach Morne Morkel heaped huge praise on frontline bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The 31-year-old pacer, returning from a back injury that had sidelined him earlier this year, has reportedly been in sensational form during India’s practice sessions in England.
Jasprit Bumrah, who had an impressive Test series in Australia late last year, missed the final day of the Sydney Test due to a back injury and subsequently sat out the ICC Champions Trophy. He made his comeback in the recently concluded IPL 2025 season. With his consistent back issues a major issue, India’s team management is taking a careful approach.
Jasprit Bumrah Earns High Praise From Morne Morkel For Intensity At Training
Jasprit Bumrah just keeps impressing the cricketing world and now he has another admirer in India bowling coach Morne Morkel who was “blown away” by the intensity of the Indian pace spearhead at the nets ahead of the India-England Test series. Team India is currently in England practicing for the five-match series which starts June 20 in Leeds. Morkel, who is overseeing the training sessions alongside the other members of the coaching staff, was highly impressed by Jasprit Bumrah.
“Bumrah knows how to get himself ready, he knows how to prepare,” Morkel said on Wednesday.
“I was blown away to see the energy on the ball the last three days. That’s very exciting to see.”
Morkel also said that the team management would be “smart” in handling Bumrah’s workload over the course of the series.
“I’m happy his body is in good shape at the moment. “We’ll manage him with that. We’ll be smart with him because he’s obviously key for us, but in terms of the first three net sessions, lot to be excited watching him bowl with the Dukes ball.”
Head coach Gautam Gambhir earlier confirmed that Bumrah is expected to feature in only three of the five Tests against England, as part of the latter’s workload management. The final decision on which matches he will play depends on the series’ progression and Bumrah’s fitness.India will play a three-day intra-squad match from June 13 to 16 at Beckenham as a final tune-up before the first Test at Headingley, Leeds, starting June 20. The match will include players from the main Test squad and the India A team.
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.
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