If there is anyone who currently seems to have an answer to Jasprit Bumrah’s seemingly impossible questions, it is Travis Head. The hard-hitting left-hander has been dismissed only once by Bumrah in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar and that too after he had smashed a blistering 89 in the second innings in Perth. Moreover, Head, unlike the Australian batters, hasn’t looked all at sea against the Indian spearhead, who is now being hailed as one of the greatest to have played the game, even by Head.
“Jasprit is probably going to go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game,” said Head.
Bumrah, captaining in the first Test in the absence of Rohit Sharma, made life hell for the Australian batsmen on a bouncing Perth pitch. He took 5-30 from 18 overs as the hosts were shot out for 104 and followed up with 3-42 in the second innings as India won by 295 runs. His unorthodox front-on action allows him to release the ball late and he can bowl yorkers at will.
Head, after being dismissed for 11 in his first innings of the series, has gone on to score 89, 140 and 152 in his next three outings. He played a pivotal role in the pink ball Test, which Australia won by 10 wickets to level the five-match series 1-1.
The current leading run-scorer of the series said he would love to tell his grandkids that he faced a bowler like Bumrah in his prime. “It’s going to be nice to look back at your career and tell the grandkids that you faced him,” he said.
Bumrah’s greatness in Australia
Bumrah has defied career-threatening back problems and during the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, he overtook Kapil Dev to become India’s leading Test wicket-taker in Australia.
The 31-year-old, India’s player of the series so far, took nine wickets in the third Test at Brisbane to move to 53 in Australia and past Dev’s previous mark of 51.
He was player of the match in India’s 295-run victory in Perth in the opening Test before the hosts levelled the series in Adelaide.
He is the leading bowler on either side, with 21 wickets in the series so far, and he has a scarcely believable average of 10.90. The next best are Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who each have 14 dismissals.
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