Our bowling coach Shane Bond has hailed Jasprit Bumrah for working hard and transforming himself into a fine all-round bowler in international cricket. The New Zealander didn’t stop there. He called Bumrah a complete bowler who’s a great asset to Indian cricket.

“I think he’s a complete bowler. Obviously his action is unique. He generates good bounce and can move the ball both ways. He hits the wicket hard. He has a very good slower one. He has got a very good read on the game. So, he thinks about his game, and adds tools and skills to his game. As long as you add to a layer and try different things which Jasprit does, you are going to get better. And I think the more he plays, particularly at the international level which he’s going to play along, he’ll get better and better. He’s a great asset Indian cricket.

Bumrah is the world’s top-ranked bowler in One Day Internationals & Twenty20 Internationals. His performances in ODI cricket have been stellar and he also made his Test debut in South Africa recently. Bond has known Bumrah since his early days in the Vivo IPL.

“I met Jasprit three seasons ago in the IPL. He was finding his feet in the IPL then. He has progressed massively. He is number one in T20Is, number one in ODI cricket. Obviously, his start in Test cricket has been outstanding as well, so I think over a period of three years, everyone has seen the kind of skills he has developed. He is a fine all-round bowler across all formats, a lot of the guys who came into the team have grown up as a person as well and all of a sudden, we come back for this season and he is the senior bowler in our team and I think he is looking forward to that challenge. He leads from the front through his performance and for me, he is still the same Jasprit that I met three years ago. Still humble, still wants to learn, still wants to work hard in the nets, so that’s the reason why he is such a success,” Bond added.

Bumrah, on his part, spoke of his role of leading the MI attack. “I don’t think about all the responsibilities. I just enjoy whatever the job is given to me. As a bowling unit, I don’t think that we are dependent on a particular bowler. We have a very good bowling unit. We’ve got variety with good spinners and good fast bowlers. I don’t see that I’m taking extra responsibility. Everybody is doing their own bit. So, yeah, it’s a good place when you have so many different kinds of bowlers. We learn from each other and we keep growing. So, that’s the best place to be,” he said.

Variations are important in Twenty20 cricket, but Bumrah said that control and execution are paramount. “If you have good control, then even two or three variations can be enough. And if you have six or seven variations but fail to execute them on a given match day, it’s of no use. So, for me, having control and a clear mindset is very important,” said Bumrah who took a much-needed break after the South Africa tour. “I bowled a lot of overs in South Africa. When you continuously play all day, your body needs rest. It can be difficult on the body. So, I was training at the National Cricket Academy. A good break is always necessary. Your hunger is back so, yeah, it’s good to be back.

Bond also heaped praise on Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya. “Speaking of variations, he has got about 15 different balls, I’m still trying to work out what he bowls! Again, if you look at our (Wankhede) wicket, I think it’s a flat wicket where the ball comes on nicely to the bat but in the return match at Chennai, we’re like to have a wicket that is going to be dry. If you see the Chennai squad, it’s stacked with spinners so there will be a bit of turn. What we needed in our squad is the ability to be flexible. Our success has been built on two overseas fast bowlers, complemented by Hardik Pandya and, obviously, Bumrah and a couple of very good spinners. But we need the ability to play another spinner in conditions with a bit of turn. Akila is a quality bowler, he has got a lot of variations. He is the only (specialist) off-spinner in our squad as well,” Bond said.

Bond and Bumrah have been around for a while. And there’s bowling mentor Lasith Malinga, too. MI’s bowling unit couldn’t have been in safer hands.