Jasprit Bumrah’s scintillating performance blows the entire series wide open
The TelegraphIt was going to be England against India’s spinners this winter. But conventional thoughts went out of the window when the tourists’ batting was cracked open by the most unconventional fast bowler Test cricket has ever seen, Jasprit Bumrah. Ollie Pope brought England’s house down in the Ashes Test at Lord’s last summer by getting too giddy, and Crawley did the same in Vizag: only one indiscreet stroke, but it was enough to open the door of England’s dressing room, and Bumrah burst in with six wickets for 45. Bumrah has made Joe Root look like the newest member of England’s batting line-up, not the most experienced. Maybe Root had too much bowling to do in Abu Dhabi and Hyderabad to devote as much time as normal to his main area of expertise, but Bumrah’s reverse swing in these first two Tests has unravelled Root’s batting.