Jasprit Bumrah is arguably the most lethal fast bowler in the world. Apart from his hard work and determination, the Gujarat speedster also owes his success to the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

He burst onto the scene back in 2013, when he made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians. Back then, more than his skills, it was his unique action that made him a household name.

He had a dream start to his IPL career as he picked up three wickets on his debut against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), snaring three for 32 in his four overs. However, his happiness was short-lived as he spent the whole season on the bench after going wicketless in his next outing.

Like any budding cricketer, Bumrah had the talent but he wasn’t the finished article just yet. He had to toil hard on developing different skill sets in order to succeed at the highest level.

There’s no denying that Bumrah was a special talent but he wasn’t even a fraction of the bowler that the whole world knows today. Despite his dream IPL debut, he failed to impress in the next two seasons.

Even former RCB skipper Kohli was sceptical of Bumrah’s abilities. 

Back in 2014, Parthiv Patel, who had witnessed Bumrah’s progress from close quarters, had asked the then RCB skipper Kohli to check out the young pacer but his reply was not very encouraging. 

Like many others, the former Indian skipper was also not fully convinced by Bumrah’s ability to succeed at the highest level. His assessment of the pacer reflected what he thought about the young speedster at the time.

During a Cricbuzz show, Patel revealed how Kohli made fun of Bumrah’s abilities after he had advised him to have a look at the young prospect.

“When I was playing for RCB in 2014, I told Virat there is a bowler named Bumrah, check him out. His reply was ‘chor yaar ye Bumrah Vumrah kya karenge’,” Patel said on Cricbuzz.

Bumrah had already dismissed Kohli in the 2013 IPL but he didn’t get enough chances that year to create a lasting impression on anyone.

Also, like I said, before, he wasn’t quite the bowler that he is now and Kohli, obviously, didn’t have much idea about him. 

Kohli’s comments might appear to be rude but it was anything but that. He hadn’t seen Bumrah play much and his remarks were a result of that.

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