Leeds, June 22: Jasprit Bumrah is undoubtedly the world’s best bowler and extremely hard to face when he “comes in down the hill with lights on and swinging both ways”, feels England opener Ben Duckett after the India pace spearhead tormented the host batters in the opening Test here.
Bumrah (3/48) was exceptional, grabbing all the England wickets that fell on Day 2, including that of the dangerous Joe Root. England, though, recovered from the early loss of opener Zak Crawley (4) to end the day on 209 for 3 in reply to India’s first innings total of 471.
One-down Ollie Pope was holding fort on unbeaten 100 with England still trailing by 262 runs.
“He (Bumrah) is the best bowler in the world. He’s extremely hard to face, good in any conditions, and when he’s coming in down the hill with the lights on and it’s swinging both ways, it’s tough,” Duckett said after play on Day 2 Saturday.
“His ability to bowl three or four different balls with no cue — you don’t know if he’s bowling a bouncer, or a slow ball, a yorker, an away-swinger or an inswinger until it comes out of his hand. You’ve got to watch the ball so hard with him, it’s very difficult to pick up Jasprit.”
Pope survived Bumrah onslaught to lead the England fightback and hit his ninth Test ton under trying conditions, and Duckett said the one-drop batter “stayed true to the way he plays”.
“He (Pope) was just so calm coming out. He probably couldn’t come out in tougher conditions, with Jasprit Bumrah running down the hill with the lights on. I don’t know what’s inside his head, but he’s just stayed true to the way he plays,” said Duckett who made 62 before becoming Bumrah’s second victim. (PTI)
