India are scheduled to play five Test matches in England, starting next month.
Widely regarded as the best fast bowler in the world across formats, Jasprit Bumrah is looking forward to another summer in England, where India are scheduled to play five Test matches, starting next month.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated series, Bumrah made it clear that he’s mentally preparing for all variables ranging from the English conditions, the Dukes ball, and the home team’s ultra-aggressive approach.
This will be Bumrah’s third Test tour of England, where he has picked up 37 wickets in eight matches at an impressive average of 23.78. Despite his success, the ace pacer admitted that no trip to England is ever predictable.
“Playing in England is always a different challenge,” Bumrah said in a chat with Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket YouTube channel.
“I always love bowling with the Dukes ball. But I don't know how much the Dukes ball is doing right now because there's always constant changes to the ball. But the weather, the swinging conditions. And then when the ball becomes soft, there's always a challenge. So I always look forward to playing in England.”
Under the leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England's Test cricket team has undergone a significant transformation, adopting a highly aggressive approach known as "Bazball."
England’s style of play hasn’t escaped Bumrah’s attention. “They're playing an interesting style of cricket which is interesting because I don't really understand it too much,” he remarked.
However, Bumrah had got the better of England's ‘Bazball’ tactic during the home Test series last year, helping India win by a 4-1 margin.
Bumrah expressed confidence in India’s bowling unit to counter even the most aggressive of batting line-ups.
“As a bowling unit, we always feel confident that when the batters are being ultra-aggressive, on a given day, anybody could run through and get wickets.”
The five-Test series between India and England is slated to get underway on June 20 at Headingley, followed by matches at Lord's (June 28), Trent Bridge (July 6), The Oval (July 14), and Old Trafford (July 24).
India Squad for England Tests: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav