MS Dhoni Told Me Just Be Yourself And Enjoy The Game: Jasprit Bumrah On His Debut

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s career has progressed by leaps and bounds and he has quickly developed into a lethal death bowling specialist. Credit must go to Indian Premier League (IPL) giants Mumbai Indians (MI) for unearthing this diamond and polishing him.

In his time with the Mumbai franchise, Bumrah learned a lot from Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, and it transformed his career forever.

Soon, the 26-year-old’s performances started to turn heads and he was given his maiden call up to India.

In a recent interview on Cricbuzz’s show Spicy Pitch, Bumrah revealed the words of the then Indian skipper MS Dhoni, right before he was about to bowl his very first over in international cricket.

Jasprit Bumrah reveals MS Dhoni told him to enjoy the game on his debut:

https://twitter.com/StanMSDhoni/status/1231097486690750464?s=20

Since making his debut versus Australia in 2016, the right-handed pacer from Gujarat has come a long way. In ICC’s rankings for ODI bowlers, he is at number two, and number six in Test cricket.

However, right before making his debut, Bumrah was very nervous and in a recent interview, he revealed how Dhoni’s advice helped him. He recalled that when he landed in Australia in 2016, it was raining on that day, so the 26-year-old could not practice and he felt he won’t be playing.

However, the next day a team meeting was held, where Ravi Shastri told Bumrah will start the game.

He added that he expected a senior player to give him a piece of advice but nothing happened.

Even on the matchday, none of the senior players approached the young speedster. And just when Bumrah was about to bowl his first over in Indian colours, Dhoni called him and said ‘Be yourself and just enjoy the match’.

After this, he played the match thinking it was a domestic game and the rest, as they say, is history.