IND vs ENG: ‘Everyone Was Wondering What Captaincy Would Do To Him’ – Zaheer Khan Lavishes Praise On Skipper Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah and other Indian hitters in the lower order have received accolades from former Indian bowler Zaheer Khan for their vital contributions to the team’s run total. In the current fifth and final rescheduled Test match at Edgbaston, India was in trouble at 98/5 while they were batting first against England.

Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, though, who bat in the middle of the order, both struck outstanding hundreds to lead India to 416 runs in the first innings. Bumrah, who was batting at number 10, had a remarkable cameo performance by hitting an undefeated 31 off 16 runs. 

Team’s Positive Mindset Reflected In Jasprit Bumrah’s Batting

The 28-year-old pacer eclipsed Brian Lara’s record for the most runs scored in a single over in a Test match by scoring 29 runs in Stuart Broad’s 18th over. In that over, which ended up being the most costly in Test cricket history, Broad let out 35 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah’s unbeaten innings of 56 and 34 runs, respectively, played vital unbeaten performances that helped India win the Lord’s Test (2nd match) last year, which bodes well for his performance this time around. In addition, Zaheer emphasised the significance of this wicket and lauded India’s lower-order batsman for their recent batting performance. 

“The way Bumrah batted reflects the team’s positive mindset. The momentum is now with India. In this entire England series, the lower-order’s contribution, be it (Mohammad) Shami, (Shardul) Thakur or Bumrah, has been hugely significant.

We had seen Bumrah do well at Lord’s as well. Not only him, all the Indian lower-order batters are trying to get better at their batting than where they are now,” Zaheer Khan told to Cricbuzz. 

Jasprit Bumrah Whacking Stuart Broad Reminded Zaheer Khan Of Yuvraj Singh’s Six Sixes

In the interim, the right-arm bowler is also serving as team India’s captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, the normal skipper and his backup.

Fans were transported back in time by Bumrah’s exploits when Yuvraj Singh, a former Indian batsman, destroyed Broad for 36 runs in 2007. Zaheer emphasised how Bumrah’s new position as skipper has improved his agility. 

“It was a hugely entertaining over. It was surprising that the bowler was Broad again. Bumrah whacking Broad reminded me of Yuvraj’s six sixes.

Everyone was wondering what captaincy would do to Bumrah. The added responsibility seems to have made him more agile. The strike rate at which he scored those 30 runs was crucial,” he added. 

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