‘Great deal of expectation, not so much appreciation’: Commentator Mpumelelo Mbangwa praises Jasprit Bumrah

The first Test match between India and South Africa at SuperSport Park and Centurion is all but coming to an end but there is no end to the praises being showered on Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

The bowler at the end of day four, after Virat Kohli had handed him the ball, responded by taking two wickets in a superb spell. He even provided the first breakthrough on Day 5 for India in Centurion Test.

The Proteas skipper Dean Elgar had put on a superb display on day four, and continued the same on the final day. He started off very well, and had a life when Mohammed Shami missed a return catch.

However, once Bumrah came back to the attack, he produced a special delivery and dismissed the South African captain on 77. Soon after the wicket fell, former Zimbabwe cricketer and prominent commentator Mpumelelo Mbangwa, who was on air for Star Sports, appreciated Bumrah in general.

He said, “Tell you what, Jasprit Bumrah is amazing. And I don’t know if Indian fans actually appreciate him rather than expect. When someone is pretty good, what tends to happen when they do it over and over, is that there is this great deal of expectation. Not so much the appreciation… you know, maybe after a guy is done, and there is a long time for Bumrah, many then appreciate what the guy could do and what he was doing. But it just seems so normal that he will be in the attack when something must happen, and he will make it happen. 

“And I’ll tell you, what Dean Elgar tries to identify when facing up to all the bowlers, is the threat they possess. But facing Bumrah, all batters have so many threats that he presents to them. When he came round the wicket, Elgar would have felt that the most difficult threat was to ensure he didn’t edge one as it’s coming towards the off stump. What he probably didn’t quite factor was the fact that Bumrah could get it to duck back in and at the stumps and he misses it completely. 

“So, so tough because he varies that length. From a good length, to slightly short as needed. That’s without talking about the yorker that he has that we saw last night. He’s a wonderful bowler, and he takes skills you’d watch a bowler used in one format, and aptly puts them in place in another. And at times when the game might seem in balance, and so forth. He really is a superstar”. 

Bumrah, during the first Test, had scripted an elusive century, becoming the sixth Indian fast bowler to pick 100 wickets away from home. He joined legends like Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath. 

Bumrah presently has a career wicket tally of 105, only four of which were picked in his only two appearances at home.