Jasprit Bumrah's Spell In Antigua Best-Ever By An Indian Bowler: Bharat Arun

Jasprit Bumrah created a special record when he took 5/7 in the second innings of the Antigua Test. Bumrah achieved the most economical five-wicket haul in Tests by an Indian bowler, breaking the previous cheapest five-wicket haul by left-arm orthodox spinner Venkatapathy Raju when he took 6/12 against Sri Lanka in Chandigarh in 1990. Harbhajan Singh had also taken 5/13 when he ran through the West Indies in Jamaica in 2006. Bumrah also achieved a first for an Asian bowler in Test history. The right-arm pacer took his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests and it has come in four different tours and in his first set of tours. Bumrah took his first five-wicket haul in Johannesburg against South Africa and he followed it up with a five-wicket haul in Trent Bridge, Melbourne and now Antigua. Remarkably, India have won all Tests where Bumrah has taken a five-wicket haul.

Speaking about his performance before the Jamaica Test which begins on August 30, India cricket team bowling coach Bharat Arun said the right-arm pacer produced one of the best performances ever by an Indian bowler.

"Bumrah is a thinking bowler. He is aware of situations and adjusts himself beautifully. If you see the lengths that he bowled in the second innings, he pitched the ball up and was getting appreciable movements. That's the best spell of fast bowling I have seen from an Indian in a long, long time," Arun told reporters before the Jamaica Test.

Under Arun, India's fast bowling unit has been revered for consistency over the past 18 months and the 56-year-old attributed it to his clear understanding of the mindset of bowlers. "My interaction with every bowler is so different from one another. I think, it is extremely important to know the mindset of a bowler and once you are aware of that, it is easier for a coach to give the right feedback. With Bumrah, we didn't need to speak anything about his bowling. We just told him to change the length and he did that. Understanding is necessary as a coach. With, a small tweak you can make the bowler better," he added.  

One of the key aspects of his tenure has been the successful workload management of the bowlers. "We have taken good care to ensure that their workloads are monitored, so that they remain fresh, when we need them. The key to their success has been how their workloads have been managed and how (seriously) these bowlers have taken up the fitness aspect. It is not only Ishant and Bumrah, who have got five wicket hauls, even (Mohammed) Shami bowled beautifully whenever he was given the ball," Arun opined.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• India won by 318 runs in Antigua, their best win in terms of runs overseas.
• Bumrah has taken five-wicket hauls in Australia, England, South Africa and West Indies.
• Bumrah took the cheapest five-wicket haul by an Indian in Tests.