PACE-PRIT BUMRAH

Two fast-bowling captains seek happy start as BGT commences

- GOMESH S

ON September 9, 2024, Mumbai Indians, the Indian Premier League franchise, had shared a reel on their Instagram handle.

The video begins with a young Jasprit Bumrah, in his early years of IPL, miffed at the description next to his name as right-arm medium. "Yeh galat hai. Right-arm medium nahi hai na. Right-arm fast (This is wrong. It's not right-arm medium. RIGHT-ARM FAST," Bumrah, who was still in his late teens, says he is faster than what has been attributed.

It's been more than a decade since Bumrah made his IPL debut. He is sitting at the Perth Stadium, taking questions from the media on the eve of the first Test between India and Australia on Thursday. He is not just the best all-format bowler in the world, but also the captain of the Test team, at least for the first game which Rohit Sharma will be missing.

Among the many questions that came his way was one referring to a medium-pace all-rounder in Nitish K Reddy. Bumrah, likely misunderstanding the question hearing 'medium-pacer', resorted to a cheeky response: "Medium-pace hai... 150KPH dala maine... fast bowler bol sakta hun (I have bowled 150KPH boss, can call me a fast bowler) but..."