There is a certain kind of dullness associated with practicing in the nets. It’s monotonous. It’s repetitive, and at times, you do not even know what you’re doing, watching the same thing over and over again. That is until you have a player like Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, weaving magic for fun, and in the process, fizzling out ennui ever so effortlessly.
Morne Morkel, India’s bowling coach for the summer, couldn’t help but fall for the Indian quick going full tilt with the Dukes ball. “Bumrah knows how to get himself ready, he knows how to prepare. I was blown away to see the energy on the ball the last three days,” he said, probably still trying to recover from the whiplash of watching Bumrah. “That’s very exciting to see. I’m happy his body is in good shape at the moment.”
But he was quick to temper his enthusiasm. Gautam Gambhir put a cap of three Tests for Bumrah, and while Morkel didn’t give any such number, he echoed the same vision of managing the right-armer ‘smartly’. “We’ll manage him with that. We’ll be smart with him because he’s obviously key for us, but in terms of the first three net sessions, lot to be excited watching him bowl with the Dukes ball.”
India have made it clear that they are not planning to run Bumrah into the ground this series. Which games he will play remains entirely for the Indian think tank to worry about, or perhaps, depending on how much is at stake and whether Bumrah wakes up smiling or aching. So far, to India’s pleasure, things are tending towards the former.
The visitors’ warm-up for the first Test match on June 20 in Headingley will be a closed-door, intra-squad game India usually play on away tours. After a long time, India’s bowling unit is full of marquee names as its prime strength. They have Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna, and that is barring Bumrah himself.
Besides the main guys, India also need to join their heads to find their fourth fast bowling option, in case they decide to go with three specialist pacers. They have Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy fulfilling their criteria for increasing the batting depth as well as giving bowlers the cushion.
Reddy was a part of the recent edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well, and while Thakur edges him out with his experience in England, Morne Morkel seemed to have a soft spot for the former. “The more bowling options we can have, that’s great. He’s skillful. He’s a guy that can bowl that magical ball, so for him it’s about creating that consistency, it’s something we want to work on, it’s important for his game as well,” Morkel said of Reddy. “I’ve had conversations where I’ve challenged him to bowl a bit more. I want to see the ball more in his hands, we all know what he can do with the bat. For a team, if we can have the bowling options especially in these conditions, I think he’ll be exciting and can complement this bowling attack.”
India are aware of what they’re up against. Morkel, having faced enough English sides to know better, is clear about the test ahead. “England – the brand of cricket they play, we need to be on top of our game,” he said. “We can’t afford to find our feet in this series.”
By the way Morkel sounds cautiously pleased, the bowlers seem to have received the memo. “That’s one of the things that has impressed me so much in the two days, the few sessions we’ve had. The guys have stepped up by themselves, they’ve taken the ownership and responsibility, they’ve realised it’s going to be a tough tour. That’s the pleasing thing for us as coaches, to see guys taking that leadership and ownership at practice.”
