NEW DELHI: Jasprit Bumrah has left the cricketing world in awe with his match-winning performance in the first Test against Australia in Perth. The Indian pace spearhead now found another admirer in former Australia fast bowler Damien Fleming who calls him ‘Terminator’.
“He’s just the Terminator, isn’t he?” Fleming told Sydney Morning Herald.
“He knows his strengths and he’s always sniffing to find that weakness. I think he does that instinctively, and it’s not a long run-up, but I can see he’s reviewed that ball, and then he’s planning the next one.”
Fleming also recalled Bumrah’s brilliant slower delivery to dismiss Shaun Marsh just before the lunch break during the Melbourne Test in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“There’s that famous dismissal of Shaun Marsh at the MCG in 2018]in the over before lunch. I was commentating at the time, and I could almost pick what was going to happen, just driving him back, so his weight’s on the back foot, and then he bowls that superb slower ball and knocks him over.
“It was either going to be that slower ball or a fast yorker. So I think he is so astute, but he also now has all the skills – outswingers, inswingers, off-cutters, slower balls, excellent yorker, bouncer.
“So when you’ve got more skills, you’ve got more options. Like the Terminator, he’s always stalking the batsmen. And the batsmen know that, but they’re still unsure what’s coming. Not only does he have a wide skill set, but he executes it better than anyone in world cricket.”
