Jasprit Bumrah is confident that his good domestic form has him in a good mental space for the T20I series in Australia
Nagraj Gollapudi18-Jan-20163:18
Didn’t expect India call-up today – Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah feels he is ready for Australia as he is confident on the back of his domestic performances for Gujarat this season. The 22-year-old came into the public domain based on his unorthodox bowling action when he made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in 2013.He made his IPL debut with figures of 3 for 32 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he took a five-for in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final recently against Delhi to help Gujarat clinch their maiden one-day title. And he is the second-highest wicket-taker for Gujarat in this season’s Ranji Trophy.Not surprising then that the national selectors told him he had their vote of confidence, on Monday. Hours after Gujarat failed to make the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition, Bumrah spoke to ESPNcricinfo about his journey, his learnings and his aims.You don’t seem to be overawed by the occasion even considering this is the first time you have been picked for the Indian team?It is not totally unexpected. I was named the standby. Sandeep Patil (chairman of selectors) was also at the ground and he told me, “You’ve been doing well, you will get in a look anytime.” Even Vikram Rathour (national selector), who was there during the one-day matches (Vijay Hazare Trophy), told me to keep doing what I was doing and I would get a look-in anytime soon. And today I got a call from the Gujarat Cricket Association. It was a nice feeling…I was not expecting it would be today.Where do you think things changed for you?I was doing well on the India A circuit as well. But I got injured last year, towards 2014 end, my front (left) knee. But because of the injury I learned a lot about my bowling: what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses. And in this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy I did very good. Things changed from there.Your unorthodox bowling action must come as an advantage for you?It is an advantage but it has its own weaknesses too. I have spoken about this to [Lasith] Malinga as well. He also has a different action, so he told me we have our own advantages as well: with this action you can bowl wherever you want to bowl. There is no point in changing it. You don’t have to be orthodox, you don’t have to do stuff like loading. If you are comfortable with this action and if you are getting the results, it is more than enough. He told me not every bowler has this action and batsmen do not face such actions every day. This is an action that comes to me naturally and [at least] the first [time] they play me they face some difficulties in picking up the ball.Where do you derive your bowling strengths from?Whenever I used to bowl earlier as well, I was fast naturally. But after the proper training I got at Mumbai Indians, it helped me to bowl faster for a longer period of time. Proper training, proper diet, your strengths sessions, your running sessions are important. Before IPL, I never used to do anything because I did not know what you should do as a fast bowler because on the domestic circuit we do not come to know about such things.You have said that you have learned something new each of the three seasons in the IPL – can you expand?IPL means learning process for me. The first year, 2013, when the first time Mumbai Indians became the champions, such big players were there, Sachin [Tendulkar] was there, Ricky Ponting was even there. So I learned how to prepare for such big games because I had never played even a first-class game before that. So I learned how to prepare for games, how to handle situations. In 2014 I was [one of] the main bowlers, I learned how to carry your form, at what situation what you have to do when you have to play for a longer period of time. Then in the last IPL I was just coming back from an injury, the senior bowlers helped me about how to come back – how to prepare yourself and what mental state of mind should be there when you are coming out of an injury.This was a major injury. I was regularly playing India A and at that time I was on the verge of getting [selected for India]. It was a difficult phase because for four-and-a-half months I was out of the game. It was my front (left) knee so it was very difficult for me. I was upset about the injury, but the chance which I missed that was more hurtful for me. At that time I was thinking if I would recover properly, if I will get the pace back. But my trainers were motivating me always and some even told me you would even be better than before. And now when I rate myself I am bowling better than before.Can you talk about learning the art of bowling yorkers from Malinga?Yorker has been my strength always because I started my cricket with tennis ball cricket where you only bowl yorkers. When I went to the IPL Malinga told me you have good yorkers, but you still need to control the yorkers. You have to continuously practice because it is a skill which is very difficult to master. For me it is different how I bowl the yorker. He practices it with a shoe on the pitch. For me basically it is a feel. If I am feeling good I would be able to bowl yorkers properly. But he gave me the general idea: where to aim, how to use your yorkers because you cannot be predictable. You have to mix it up. So this is what I have learned from him: what to do, how to do and what time to do it.About his action: “I have spoken about this to Malinga as well, he told me we have our own advantages: with this action you can bowl wherever you want to bowl. There is no point in changing it”•Getty ImagesYou have come some way since being hit for three fours off your first four balls in your IPL debut by a man who is now the India Test captain. Haven’t you?That was my first match. I had just joined [the squad] two days before that match. Not many people had seen me. I didn’t know anybody. I did well in the practice sessions so they told me you would get a match. So when I was playing the outfield and the wicket was wet so my landing was not nice. I was too scared to ask anybody what to do. But after three fours there is no other option, so I told Sachin sir. He said he would call somebody and fix the thing. He also told me one good ball would change your match and play as you play for Gujarat. Don’t bowl to the name. Bowl to the batsman. And that is what happened.What other than your action and pace are your strengths?Self-belief, I think, is my biggest strength. The mental toughness comes into play whenever the chips are down. After the injury it has increased more because when you are not able to do anything, when your body is not going after that you learn quite a lot about how to handle a situation. When I went to Australia on the India A tour in 2014, I played on flat pitches against batsmen some of whom were Test players. That experience taught me a lot as I also was playing with a lot of Test players in our side as well and I learned about being mentally tough.So you have already had a taste of Australian conditions. You are going to play Twenty20 cricket this time. What do you reckon would be in your favour?In T20 cricket the wickets hardly matter, but I heard the wickets are good. But where we played the match [in 2014] the wicket was really flat so I really don’t have a real idea of the wickets. But I have played quite a lot of first-class cricket in the past two years. A lot of matches help you know your game so that gives you confidence. So it won’t be that I would totally blank and I wouldn’t know what to do.Just not with the white ball, you have done really well with the red ball for Gujarat in domestic cricket.People have seen me [mainly] in the IPL, so they think I only bowl well in white ball cricket. But I really like and I have done well in four-day cricket. I love it because it is a proper test of a cricketer. You need a lot of strength. You need a lot of patience. You need a lot of training as well because we play eight Ranji Trophy matches. If you do well there you can do well in any format.Would it be correct then to say your aim is obviously to play the longer form of the game and not be branded as a shorter format player?Yes, in general I like to play all the three formats as you can express yourself, all the traits you have. In four-day cricket you have to be consistent, you have to bowl in one area. In T20 you can show your variations, you can show your yorkers. So I enjoy all the formats.