How Ishant Sharma Played A Part In Bumrah’s India Debut: ‘I Told Ravi Bhai…’

It was in January 2016, away in Australia, that Jasprit Bumrah made his international debut for India, and at the time of playing his first match, the speedster was still an unknown commodity, having made his IPL debut only a few years ago.

By that point, however, Bumrah had an extremely impressive List A record — 39 wickets in 20 innings at an average of 18.7 — and someone who had taken a close note of his effectiveness was veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, who was at the receiving end of a Bumrah storm in the 2015 Vijay Hazare Final, just weeks before the Australia tour.

Ishant revealed how he pushed for Bumrah’s selection in the first XI, having seen the damage the right-armer was capable of causing.

“I remember we were playing the List A match, I think it was in 2016 (2015). We were playing the final in Bengaluru, Delhi vs Gujarat. Uss time vo bhaagta tha, properly bhaagte hue bowling karta tha. Abhi jaisa (slow) nahi (At that time, he used to have a proper fast bowler's run-up, not like how he does it today). He picked five wickets in that game,” Ishant said, reported Hindustan Times.

“After that, we went to Australia. I told Ravi bhai, 'If we need anyone in this team, it's Jasprit Bumrah'. I told him about Bumrah's action and his bowling. Ravi bhai was the mentor of the team. And look at his luck... someone got injured, and Bumrah came into the team. From there till now, his mindset and self-belief makes him stand out.”

As it turned out, Bumrah made his debut in the fifth match of the five-match ODI series and impressed instantly, taking 2/40. His first wicket in international cricket was that of Steve Smith, who was in unstoppable form with the bat across formats during that period. The rest, as they say, is history.