Former Australia batter Michael Hussey has recalled his interaction with Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah during his stint with Mumbai Indians.
He spoke about having a word with the Indian pacer during the match between MI and RCB. During the IPL 2014 game, Bumrah dismissed AB de Villiers and after the wicket, the pacer gave a fiery send-off to the batter gesturing towards the pavilion.
“He burst onto the scene in the IPL. I remember having one stern word with him, though. In one of his early games, he got AB de Villiers out, obviously a great of the game and gave him a big send-off, and AB wasn’t too happy about it.”
“He sort of stared him down, and I remember just pulling Bumrah aside and saying, ‘mate, you don’t need to do that,” Hussey told on Podcast.
“You have got that much skill that much talent, getting the wicket is enough. That’s the biggest sledge you can give, you don’t need to give send-offs if you want to have respect in the game and get respected by your peers then maybe just don’t give send-offs’,” he added.
Jasprit Bumrah has taken the most wicket down under for Indian bowlers. He recently went past Kapil Dev’s tally of 51 wickets.
“He is such a humble and down to earth guy, it was bit off out of character for Bumrah. He is such a great guy. I love watching him bowl. He always got that smile on his face, he is always calms, consistent with his character. He doesn’t get too emotional and obviously a great talent,” said Hussey.
Bumrah has 194 test wickets from 43 tests, made his debut in the longest format against South Africa in 2018. He then contributed to India’s Border Gavaskar Trophy win during 2018-19 tour.
Bumrah bowled a magical slower delivery to Shaun Marsh during Melbourne Test and no one can forget his spell during the Boxing day test in the tour.
“Not really surprised. He is unbelievable. I actually played a year with him in the IPL. I had one year at the Mumbai Indians. He was just a young kid coming through and I remember facing him in the nets and literally couldn’t get bat on ball.”
“I felt like I was using a toothpick. I remember thinking oh I can’t even see the ball, can’t even pick the ball coming out of his hand. His action is so unique,” said Hussey.
“First impression I didn’t thought he will even get to the crease. He was staggering with his run up and I was like what’s going on here, who the heck is this guy and then suddenly woof the ball whistles past my eyebrows at 145kph,” he added.
Speaking about the chatter about Bumrah when he first played in the IPL Hussey said, “In India, initially all the talks were like how he will only succeed in the white ball cricket with that bowling action and that run up. It is too much pressure on the body. He can’t play Test cricket.”
“But I always thought nah he has got the skills and ability and if he has the desire to play Test cricket he could and isn’t he doing it bloody well at the moment,” he added.
Bumrah is currently involved in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy where he is the leading wicketkeeper so far. He played a crucial role in India’s win at Perth test and also played huge role in dismantling Australian batting line up in second and third test.
After the third match ended in a tie, the fourth match will be played begin on December 26 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
