“Bumrah-Vumrah kya karega?” – When Virat Kohli disregarded Jasprit Bumrah in comment to Parthiv Patel
As India captain, particularly overseas, Virat Kohli depended on his trump card Jasprit Bumrah. The ex India skipper would always bank on the unorthodox Gujarat seamer whenever he needed a breakthrough. But do you know, there was a time when Kohli did not rate Bumrah much in the IPL?
Yes, the mighty Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter had a certain sense of disregard for the threat that the then young Mumbai Indians (MI) speedster carried. This was revealed by RCB’s ex wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel, who recalled an interesting conversation he had with Kohli regarding Bumrah.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Parthiv, a fellow India and Gujarat cricketer, remembered alarming Virat Kohli about his state’s young, upcoming pacer in Bumrah as they were about to lock horns. But back then, the great batter was unfussed about the prospect of facing up to the future Indian bowling star.
Jasprit Bumrah flourished under Virat Kohli’s captaincy for India.
Virat Kohli did not rate Jasprit Bumrah much
It may sound baffling right now, but as per Parthiv, there was a time when Virat Kohli did not recognise Bumrah as much of a threat or someone to be wary of. The conversation that Parthiv had with Kohli is from the 2014 edition of the IPL played in UAE and India.
“In 2014, when I was at RCB, I told Virat Kohli there’s this bowler named Bumrah. Have a look at him. Virat replied saying ‘Chhor na yaar. Ye Bumrah-Vumrah kya karenge?’ (Leave it. What will such players do?” Parthiv reminisced on Cricbuzz.
Interestingly, the conversation that Parthiv has brought to light took place after Kohli had already faced Bumrah in the 2013 season of the IPL. In a famous RCB-MI encounter, the pacer made an excellent first impression in the biggest T20 league by dismissing Kohli in a spell of 3 for 32 on debut.
Maybe, the batter treated the dismissal as just a minor mistake on his part, especially as Bumrah played only one further game for MI that season and had a bad 2014 season of IPL, taking just 5 wickets from his 11 matches.
Today, however, Bumrah stands as IPL’s hottest bowling property, with a remarkable overall record under his belt. The ace Indian quick has bagged a whopping 130 IPL wickets with an eye-catching economy rate of 7.46 for someone who has been MI’s go-to bowler for the difficult end-overs phase.
For Parthiv, the turnaround started from 2015 onwards, when MI decided to back their eye for talent with Bumrah despite his initial few poor seasons.
“When he was first picked, Bumrah played Ranji Trophy for the first 2-3 years. 2013 was his first year, and he didn’t have a good season in 2014. In 2015, it was so bad that there were discussion going on that he might have to be sent back home mid-season,” Parthiv recalled.
“But, he slowly began improving and Mumbai Indians really backed him. It was his own hard work and such backing that really brought out the best in him.”