Former Indian pacer and one of the most gifted fast bowlers to have played for this team, Zaheer Khan recently spoke about Jasprit Bumrah’s uncannily aggressive behaviour during the second Test match between India and England at London’s Lord’s cricket ground.

“If by getting angry, he can carry himself and perform like this, I believe he should at times needle the opposition. See, in the first innings, he had gone wicketless and being the class bowler that he is, I’m sure it must have bothered him," Zaheer said on Cricbuzz. 

“After that, the whole Anderson episode that unfolded, the bouncers he bowled to him and then while batting, the manner in which the England pacer went after him… all those things motivated him, and he channelised that anger in the right way. England must be thinking ‘we should have let Bumrah bowl bouncers’ and not mess with him. The intensity with which he bowled was worth praising." 

“Bowling a slower ball is challenging, but to bowl it from round the wicket, from that angle to get a batsman out LBW, you need to bowl from close to the wicket, which is never easy. Bumrah did a very tough job. The thought process was excellent. When you’re coming round the wicket, even the batsman is thinking ‘they might use the bouncer more’. To bring out that kind of variation and to have that thinking to get that wicket, Bumrah was fabulous."

At the twilight of the first innings of England’s batting, Bumrah delivered four no-balls by overstepping the crease in a single over. It was the same over in which the paceman bowled a few short-pitch balls with Anderson on strike, which made the Englishman irk enough to grumble and protest out loud. 

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and the Indian fielding coach R Sridhar had revealed in a YouTube video on Thursday evening, what Anderson said exactly to Bumrah which angered him even more.

“The thing was, Jimmy [Anderson] was like ‘Hey mate! Why are you bowling so fast? Am I doing the same to you?’ Ashwin said.  

“The beauty about that is, it looks like Jimmy had told Boom [Bumrah], ‘All these while, you were bowling in the 80MPHs, suddenly on seeing me, why are you bowling in the 90MPHs?’” he added while mocking the Englishman.

“So after the innings, the boys were walking back to the dressing room. Then, Bumrah walked past Jimmy and just patted at him, so as to tell him that it [bouncers] wasn’t intentional. We all know Bumrah. He is such a nice guy. So he had gone to talk to him and end the matter, but Jimmy brushed him aside,” Sridhar added.

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