Among the greatest challenges for batting sides taking on India in this World Cup will be overcoming Jasprit Bumrah, a fast bowler whose homespun action and laser-precise yorkers place him among the leading exponents at the death.
The 25-year-old is a child of the Indian Premier League, plucked from obscurity six years ago when John Wright, the former India coach, spotted him while scouting a local T20 tournament. Bumrah’s pace and accuracy caught the eye, generated from a quirky approach that sees him canter to the crease like a dressage horse before a ramrod straight bowling arm morphs into a bullwhip, lashing the ball down north of 85mph.
A hyper-extendable elbow is at play here but so too the skills developed during his formative years when, to avoid a telling off from his mother, he would bowl a tennis ball into the skirting boards at home and thus prevent it from bouncing around wildly.
Bumrah will be keen to set the record straight on English soil too. It was in the 2017 Champions League final that his front-foot no-ball gave Fakhar Zaman a life on three, with the opener going on to make a century that powered rivals Pakistan to victory. Ali Martin