Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has taken a sly dig at Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, suggesting that the bowler has underperformed in the ongoing fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. Bumrah, who was pivotal in India’s win at Lord’s, has struggled to find the same rhythm on a less responsive surface in Manchester.
“No Oomph Like Lord’s” – Vaughan Critical of Bumrah’s Rhythm
While Bumrah has bowled a marathon spell of 28 overs, he’s managed only one wicket while giving away 95 runs. Vaughan pointed out that Bumrah looked far more threatening during the third Test at Lord’s, where he produced one of his best spells.
“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅’𝒔,” 𝑽𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝑩𝑪. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒐𝒇𝒓𝒂 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅’𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔.
The former England captain believes the Indian quick hasn’t exploited the Old Trafford pitch effectively and lacked the sharpness that once defined his game.
Despite Dip, Bumrah Reaches Landmark in England
Amid criticism, Bumrah achieved a major career milestone on Day 3 of the Manchester Test, becoming only the third Asian bowler to take 50 Test wickets in England. He joins the elite company of Wasim Akram (53) and Ishant Sharma (51).
Bumrah now boasts 50 wickets in just 12 Tests on English soil at an impressive average of 26.38 and an economy of 2.79. He also has four four-wicket hauls and remains a crucial figure in India’s bowling lineup.
Though he ended Day 3 with just one wicket — that of England’s Jamie Smith — his overall performance in the series remains respectable. He has picked up 13 wickets in five innings at an average of 26.69, including two five-wicket hauls.
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 — 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 12 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆.
Bumrah’s recent form might be seen as a dip, especially following his explosive performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year, where he took 32 wickets at an astonishing average of 13.06. However, considering his return from injury, some dip in intensity was expected.
India will hope their ace pacer finds his groove again as the match heads into a crucial phase.
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