BOOM: Jasprit Bumrah comes up with one more five-wicket haul

Jasprit Bumrah and records, they are a lovely couple. On Sunday, at Leeds, the 31-year-old fast bowler again scripted history as he took five wickets for 83 runs against England in the first Test of the climactic series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

It is well known, even before the Indian team had landed in England, the chatter was around Bumrah. Despite the back injury he sustained in the Sydney Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, Bumrah continued to be the name on everyone’s lips. Sadly, fans and officials alike started thinking BOOM, as he is known fondly, was a machine and could continue slogging. That was wrong, for the workload which Bumrah had been subjected to, across three formats, was crazy. Worse, during the BGT Series in Australia, the stand-in captain had bowled far too long spells.

So, even though his return to cricket for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 edition was defining, everyone expected him to play a lead role in England. This is where Bumrah decided he had put his body through far too much in the past. Workload management is something he himself opted for. Even in this first innings of England, where the tail wagged, Bumrah was not coming onto bowl and think he was going to break partnerships repeatedly. He had done that over and over again, selflessly.

In the course of two days, on Saturday and Sunday, Bumrah bowled 24.4 overs, which was acceptable. He had bowled 16 overs on Saturday and then came on to shoulder the load on Sunday. Looking at the scorecard, one may think the support cast comprising Prasidh Krishna (3/128) and Mohd Siraj (2/122) did well. No, they did not. There was a world of difference between Bumrah and the other bowlers, which is how England could score 465 runs. The middle order and tail wagged, which was sad for India.

Back to Bumrah, he had faced anxious moments even on Saturday, though he had taken three wickets. He was not happy that the other bowlers had not stepped up in conditions where the batters had it fairly easy. Someone like Bumrah uses his skills and mental edge to psyche out the batters, which defined his 14^th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Interestingly, Bumrah also equalled Kapil Dev’s record of 12 five-wicket hauls overseas. Anil Kumble and Ishant Sharma had 10 and 9 five wicket hauls overseas.

In many ways, if the English media comprising former cricketers is going bonkers over Bumrah, it’s because they feel the Indian superstar is simply unplayable. Former England captain Nasser Hussain was gushing when he said Bumrah was so unplayable, he would probably get him 10 times out of 10. Imagine, an Indian fast bowler coming in for such fulsome praise from an England player who was captain and is now a noted columnist and commentator.

The way ahead, depending on how the series plays out, Bumrah is a critical aspect for India. He had the heart to say ‘no’ to captaincy as he cannot risk his body and play five Tests. The key is longevity and workload management. One does not get to hear cuss words from Jasprit Bumrah. But if you factor the five catches dropped by Indian fielders, Bumrah has every reason to be upset. He puts in so much effort, the fielders and other bowlers will have to step up. It is madness to imagine Bumrah the match-winner can play non-stop cricket.