Jasprit Bumrah had an excellent Test match against England at Lord's. Not only did he shine with the ball on the last day by picking three important wickets, he also scored an important 34 not-out to help India set a fighting target. But if there is one thing that stood out from the match, it was his battle with England pacer James Anderson.
Towards the fag end of England's first innings, Bumrah unleashed a barrage of bouncers on Anderson. He banged it short, and bowled at the body of the English pacer. Bumrah even caught the helmet once apart from a couple of body blows.
While speaking in Tailenders podcast, veteran Anderson said that he was caught off guard a little because of the pace and felt that Bumrah wasn't trying to get him out.
“I got caught off guard a little bit because all the batters coming in were saying how slow the pitch was.
{{/usCountry}}“I got caught off guard a little bit because all the batters coming in were saying how slow the pitch was.
{{/usCountry}}"Banged in short; it was really slow. When I came out to bat, Joe said Bumrah was not bowling as quick as he normally does. And then, the first ball was 90 miles an hour and on the money, wasn’t it? And it felt like, I haven’t felt like this ever in my career. I felt he wasn’t trying to get me out," Anderson elaborated.
Anderson reflected on the long over Jasprit Bumrah bowled that involved multiple no-balls as he struggled to survive that spell.
“I felt he wasn’t trying to get me out. He bowled an over, maybe 10, 11, 12 balls. He was bowling no-ball after no-ball, bowling short. I think he bowled two on the stumps which I managed to dig out. So for me, it was just about trying to survive that and get Joe back on strike.”
Anderson, on the other hand, failed to bag a single wicket in the second innings after claiming a five-wicket haul in the first.
The third Test begins on August 25 at Headingley, Leeds.