Jasprit Bumrah Reveals What Actually Transpired Between Him And James Anderson That Riled Up Team India At Lord's

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has opened up about the verbal exchanges that went on during the Lord’s Test between him and James Anderson. The duel took place on Day 3 when Bumrah had a go at Anderson with a short-ball barrage late in the day.

Visibly unhappy with the way Bumrah bowled at him, Anderson had a few words to say as Bumrah was walking off. This riled up the generally-calm Bumrah and motivated the pacer to give back to the Englishmen. Speaking to Dinesh Karthik, who was interviewing for Sky Sports, Bumrah stated:

“I don’t want to go into the details. But when we play the sport, it’s never our intention to really hurt the batsman or try to aim to hit the batsman. It was a tactic to get the lower order out because when we go to Australia or South Africa, this is what happens. That’s what was to it.”

“But as soon as the day got over, some words were exchanged which were not really pleasant so we were not happy about it. I did not hear at that time because I was really tired but all my teammates heard and usually I am a person who doesn’t go looking for a fight or get riled up when needled. But when I heard what was said, I got really riled up.”

The result of the verbal volleys was a fired-up Bumrah who gave India the breakthrough on Day 5. He removed Rory Burns early on which set the precedent for the team. The things Anderson said had pumped up the whole team and they had made up their minds to go at the English batsmen really hard.

“Then it was like if something comes up I won’t really back down and give it back ten times. Everyone was really charged up and ready for a fight, to go really hard but to not lose shape and remember that we are here to do a job, not just talk and make an impact. We wanted to use the fire to our advantage and make a result out of it that eventually happened,” the 27-year-old added.

“Batsmen play a role but I am a bit biased towards bowlers” – Jasprit Bumrah

Cricket has quickly developed into a batsman’s game especially after the introduction of the fast-paced T20’s. The entertainment is directly proportional to the number of runs scored and so the tracks prepared by teams are pretty flat for white-ball games.

The bowlers tend to do all the hard work while the batsman’s job has become easier. However, performing in such batsman-friendly times develops the self-belief and confidence a bowler has, as per Bumrah.

“It’s (fast bowling) a full-year job, it’s not a thing where you turn up and perform it’s not easy. Batsmen can get away with a lot of things, they have a shoulder pain, a knee pain, they have to stand in the slips and just clap. I am a bowler and also a fan of fast-bowling, so I’ll always pick up bowlers and highlight them.”

“I feel bowlers do the hard job and if you have to win titles bowlers need to have a major role in it. Obviously, batsmen play a role but I am a bit biased towards bowlers… Even in T20 cricket, the rules are in your guys’ favor, the boundaries are shorter, there’s no swing, no reverse swing. Coming against those hardships and making an impact, despite all these things, I feel that gives you a lot of self-belief,” Bumrah added.

Jasprit Bumrah has become Virat Kohli’s go-to bowler across formats in a very short period of time. He is one of the very few potent multi-format bowlers India has at the moment.

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