India’s veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma has revealed that Jasprit Bumrah used to properly run in his run-up when he was rising through the ranks. Sharma recalled a List A fixture between Delhi and Gujarat when Bumrah had a proper run-up.

Currently, Bumrah is the best fast bowler in the world despite having a stuttering bowling run-up. Bumrah is known to jog to the crease and thus he puts a lot of load on his body while releasing the ball.

Earlier, Bumrah had jokingly said that he bowls with a similar pace when he takes a long run-up, and thus he doesn’t want to waste his energy.

Ishant Sharma said on Padamjeet Sehrawat’s YouTube Channel, “I remember we were playing the List A match, I think it was in 2016 (2015). We were playing the final in Bengaluru, Delhi vs Gujarat. Uss time vo bhaagta tha, properly bhaagte hue bowling karta tha. Abhi jaisa (slow) nahi (At that time, he used to have a proper fast bowler’s run-up, not like how he does it today). He picked five wickets in that game,” Ishant said as he narrated the story.

Ishant recalled that he told India’s mentor Ravi Shastri to play Jasprit Bumrah when they were on the tour of Australia. 

“After that, we went to Australia. I told Ravi bhai, ‘If we need anyone in this team, it’s Jasprit Bumrah’. I told him about Bumrah’s action and his bowling. Ravi bhai was the mentor of the team. And look at his luck… someone got injured, and Bumrah came into the team. From there till now, his mindset and self-belief makes him stand out,” Ishant said.

Bumrah returned with impressive figures of 3-23 in 3.3 overs against Australia at the Adelaide Oval while making his T20I debut. The ace pacer accounted for David Warner, James Faulkner, and Cameron Boyce.