It looks like Jasprit Bumrah never went away from international cricket for 327 days.
His second ball in his comeback match against Ireland on Aug. 18 nipped in enough to get an inside edge off Andy Balbirnie’s bat and crashed on to the stumps.
Bumrah picked up his first wicket after 11 months, and to celebrate that, he nailed another three balls later in the same over.
However, despite the two scalps in his first six deliveries, the best thing was the inswinging yorker he bowled to Lorcan Tucker — a ball that brought the excitement back among the viewers.
The 29-year-old fast bowler returned to the Indian team after a back injury for the three-match series straight as a captain.
“So many sessions I did at the NCA, and played a lot of practice games, that it didn’t feel like I missed out on a lot, or was doing something new,” Bumrah said after the first game.
And alongside him, came back another pacer, Prasidh Krishna, who was out of the side due to a spine injury.
The lanky speedster had an impressive start to his career in 2021 where he played 14 ODIs, claimed 25 wickets at an average of 23.92, struck every 27 deliveries while conceding 5.32 runs per six balls.
With his decent returns in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he has claimed 49 wickets, and good performances in the one-day format, it was inevitable that Prasidh will make it into the T20I squad as well.
After delayed debut due to injury, he picked up two wickets in his first T20I match last week and two more in the next match.
“They (Bumrah and Prasidh) are very smart; they never looked like they did not get a game, or were out of practice. They looked ready in practice,” India’s stand-in coach for Ireland tour Sitanshu Kotak said.
In the second T20I, Prasidh was introduced in the third over, and on his third ball, he bounced out Irish opener Paul Stirling with a shoulder high short ball that hurried the batter into playing the hook shot. Two balls later, he got Tucker out in similar fashion.
The 27-year-old is a simple bowler having a very easy action. His USP is his height. Around 6’2” and possessing a high-arm action, Prasidh runs in, rolls his arm over, and gets the ball to bounce just a bit higher than average while clocking nearly 140 kmph every time.
“It’s about being consistent. If I can be consistent in execution, that’s where I want to be,” said Prasidh.
He brings in similar characteristics as that of Ishant Sharma — height, seam position, and speed.
During the two T20Is, Prasidh conceded only 15 runs towards the offside and 44 on the leg, hinting what his game plan was — wicket-to-wicket.
Further, only 21 runs across the two games were scored off him in the ‘V’ — long-on & long-off — suggesting that the majority of the balls were between good and short length.
It is not that bowling the stump-line is his go-to weapon. During the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2, Prasidh conceded just 22 runs in his four overs while bagging three wickets. In that spell with 17 dot balls, RCB could only score a single run on the leg side (fine leg) against him.
Prasidh’s ability to bowl according to the game plan and hit the deck hard consistently at a high pace while also getting the ball to move in the air and off the pitch makes him a lethal bowler.
Bumrah-Prasidh combo
For Prasidh, it’s his high-arm action, and for Bumrah, it’s the hyperextension combined with complex action, that works wonders.
Thanks to his late release, Bumrah gets the ball to skid more off the pitch. With his accuracy and a terrific seam presentation, Bumrah gets the batter into difficult positions more often than not. Add his command over variations like cutters and the slower delivery makes him one of the most difficult bowlers to face.
The two contrasting bowlers make a terrific pair, challenging the batters to adjust quickly to the release points and trajectory of the ball.
THE GIST
Warm-up for World Cup?
India will be delighted with Bumrah’s fairytale comeback as he finished the Ireland series with a Player-of-the-Match award for his four wickets while averaging 9.35.
For Prasidh, his pre-injury ODI record suggests that he is in the right frame of mind for the World Cup. He has already been included in the Asia Cup 2023 squad where will be partnering Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj in the fast-bowling department.
There is a high likelihood that Prasidh would be in the starting XI, according to what Kotak suggested earlier this week: “It is just that these guys need more game time before the World Cup. They will get three games in this series [vs Ireland] and a few matches in the Asia Cup.”
The future
Prasidh’s rise makes him a terrific prospect for India across formats. Given that Indian fast-bowling attack is under transition, he is someone who could fit into the line-up easily.
And Prasidh knows “there’s more he can do” and he’s getting back into his groove at a good pace.
As far as Bumrah is concerned, watching him doing his thing, makes one think how India missed him all these months!
