Jasprit Bumrah opened up how important captaincy is to a bowler and how setting of the field helps in getting wickets.
The Indian ace pacer revealed that he used to depend on Rohit Sharma in his initial days, saying: “When I came into cricket, I didn’t know a lot – when I started playing IPL – I used to go and tell Rohit Sharma, ‘you set the field, I don’t know. I am going to bowl this ball, you set the field & I trust you, whatever the field right you set the field’ – then slowly I realised I can’t be overly dependent on others then I started learning the craft,” Bumrah was quoted as saying to Indian Express.
Bumrah also opened up on bowlers being leaders of the side and captaining the team shouldn’t be that difficult.
“I cannot go to the team and tell, now you have to make me captain. It is above my pay grade. I feel the bowlers are the smart people, as we have to get the batters out. We are always fighting the odds as the ground are shorter, the bats are better. I don’t remember any article or technology coming to swing the ball a lot more. People enjoy the ball being thrown around and enjoy sixes being hit,” Bumrah said on the Indian Express Adda.
“Because bowlers are doing the hard job. They are not hiding behind a bat. They are not hiding behind a flat wicket. When you lose a game, bowlers are blamed. It is a hard job. I take a lot of pride doing that job. You have to face a lot of challenges. Because of these challengers, bowlers find new ways to succeed. Fighting the odds make you a lot braver, leadership needs you to be brace. We have seen Pat Cummins doing really well. I have seen Wasim Akram captaining. Kapil Dev and Imran Khan have won a World Cup. Bowlers are the smart ones. Sometimes, physically it is stressful, that’s why leadership goes to batters. In my opinion, bowlers are the smart ones,” Bumrah added.
Bumrah went on to add: “Perception changes with results. I came from a perception that this bowling action will not work, but now people try to copy it. You don’t try to say things; you let your results talk. Pat Cummins is a big example. I got a lot of positive results. He won the World Cup and WTC. I do not think it is a burden. When you play cricket, you want responsibility. You do not want to hide behind and be the backbencher. You have to be of the mindset that if you give me the ball, I will make the difference. I am of the opinion that there is no better thought than having responsibility. Injuries can happen to anyone.”
“If a batsman can get hit on the head and be out of the game with a concussion, then what do you do? Fast bowling is a tough job. It depends on how you are looking at it, whether it is a glass half full or half full. The most important thing in cricket is captaining how you bowl and set up fields. When the team is bating, you do not have to captain. You have to have empathy towards bowlers. Rohit is one of the few captains who has empathy towards bowlers despite being a batter. Bowlers can make very good captains, and they understand the sport,” Bumrah added.
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