India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah made his international debut in an ODI match against Australia in 2016. Not sure if Bumrah would be able to deliver perfect yorkers in the slog overs, former India captain MS Dhoni had suggested him against bowling yorkers in his first match.
Advertisement
Bumrah, however, didn’t much pay much heed to his first international captain because he didn’t know what else to do in such a situation. Having followed his gut, he was excellent in his approach and conceded just seven runs in the 48th over. He registered bowling figures of 10-0-40-2 in that game.
After the match, Dhoni reckoned that India could have won the series had Bumrah played in the first four matches as well. For the unversed, India had lost a five-match series 1-4.
If truth be told, it was a really brave call by the youngster as it is not easy to go against your captain on debut. This showed how confident the fast bowler was in his craft.
“In my debut game, I was going to bowl in the death overs and I asked him [MS Dhoni], ‘Can I bowl yorkers?’, and he was like, ‘No, don’t bowl yorkers’,” Bumrah had told Times of India.
“I told him, ‘In death overs, I don’t know what else to do’. So, anyway, I went ahead and did my thing.”
When MS Dhoni Was Unaware Of Jasprit Bumrah’s Death Bowling Skills
Bumrah made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians a decade ago but he wasn’t a popular figure back then. The fact that Dhoni had not seen Bumrah bowl much played a part in him not recognizing his skills. Even Bumrah acknowledged the same and credited Dhoni by saying that he gave him a lot of confidence
“I made my debut under him and he gave me a lot of confidence. Not many people know that Mahi bhai had never seen me bowl, at any level,” Bumrah had said.
Not part of the original squad, Bumrah had traveled to Australia as a replacement for Mohammed Shami in the T20I squad. However, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar getting ruled out of the last ODI, Bumrah was handed an opportunity in a series which had also witnessed debuts for the likes of Barinder Sran, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Rishi Dhawan.
Hadn’t Bumrah Bowled To Dhoni In The IPL Before International Debut?
Interestingly, Bumrah and Dhoni faced each other just a month before the pacer’s international debut. It was in a Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16 match between Jharkhand and Gujarat in Alur. Bumrah took Dhoni’s wicket on a brilliant yorker in that match.
Ahead of making his India debut, Bumrah played just a couple of matches against Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2014. He struggled in both games conceding 73 runs in 7.4 overs without taking a wicket. Readers must note that Dhoni had scored 4 (3) against Bumrah in those matches.
Additionally, Bumrah possesses a brilliant record against Dhoni when it comes to all the seasons of the IPL. In 61 balls, Dhoni has scored just 60 runs losing his wicket thrice in the process against Bumrah.
