Top-ranked Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah believes that playing red-ball cricket in England always presents a different challenge, adding that he is keen to bowl with the Dukes ball and counter the task of picking wickets when the ball gets softer.
Bumrah, the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year in 2024, will take the field for India when they begin their important five-match Test series against England at Leeds on June 20.
“Playing in England is always a different challenge. I always love bowling with the Dukes ball. But I don’t know how much the Dukes ball is doing right now because there’s always constant changes to the ball.”
“But the weather, the swinging conditions, and then when the ball becomes soft, there’s always a challenge. So I always look forward to playing in England,” said Bumrah to former Australia skipper Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 cricket YouTube channel.
So far, Bumrah has picked 37 wickets in nine Tests in England at an average of 26.27. With Bumrah set to lead a fast-bowling attack featuring Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh in England, he expressed faith over the rest of the pacers coming good in the Test series.
“They’re playing an interesting style of cricket which is interesting because I don’t really understand it too much. But as a bowling unit, we always feel confident that when the batters are being ultra-aggressive, on a given day, anybody could run through and get wickets.”
With Bumrah unlikely to feature in all five Tests in England due to workload management, and the 2026 T20 World Cup on the horizon, the fast bowler admitted he will have to pick and choose his future matches to keep his body fresh.
“Obviously, it is tough for any individual to keep playing everything for so long. I’ve been doing it for a while, but eventually you have to understand where your body is going, what is the important tournament. You have to be a little selective and smart about how you use your body.”
“As a cricketer, I would never want to leave anything and always keep on going. But I don’t set goals or look at numbers. whenever I have (set goals), I’ve never been able to fulfil them. I just try and enjoy because that’s why I started this sport. Take one day at a time and collect memories because, at the end of the sport, that’s all I’ll remember.”
Bumrah signed off by expressing excitement over cricket being played in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “Now, I’ve heard there’s Olympics in cricket coming as well, so that is something I’m really looking forward to. Who would have thought cricket would become an Olympic sport? So, that’s something that excites me.”
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