Jasprit Bumrah has lauded John Wright on scouting him out for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League(IPL) and subsequently paving way for him to become one of country's finest pace bowlers at the highest level.
Bumrah, who made his International debut for India in 2016, immediately built a reputation of being the best limited overs fast bowler around.
But he confirmed his status as an all conditions Test cricketer by picking 21 wickets during the four-match Test series in Australia, allowing India to clinch their maiden Test series triumph down under.
Despite only 10 Tests behind him and not a single one of them at home, the 25-year-old has scalped 49 wickets at an average of just 21.9.
"I tell him(Wright) every time I meet him. I thanked him again (when I was picked for India). I have told him many times that he has played a pivotal role in my career," Bumrah, who is still indebted to the former New Zealand batsman for the opportunity back then, told Crictoday.
"Whatever I have achieved or reached it's because of him. If he hadn't come to watch that Mushtaq Ali tournament in Mumbai, I wouldn't have played IPL so early and subsequently everything which has happened in my life perhaps would not have fallen in place so smoothly."
Wright, in fact, had talked up Bumrah from the moment he first saw him. The ex-Indian head coach told Bangalore Mirror that he caught the raw talent through his eyes and wasn't too worried about the usual action.
"He bowled fast yorkers with an interesting action," Wright said, "One of his deliveries hit the footmark and flew right over the head of keeper Parthiv Patel. It went for four byes. I thought, 'gosh, he has got a little bit of pace'."
"I then rang Rahul Sanghvi at Mumbai Indians and told him that I have seen this young lad and perhaps we should sign him. We did."
Being his modest self, Wright doesn't any credit for Bumrah's success and feels that the right-arm pacer deserves all the praise that he is receiving.
"All the credit goes to him because it's OK being picked and identified but then it's up to the player to learn lessons and improve. I am enjoying his success in Australia. The great thing about him was his action and his pace. He can do some interesting things with the ball. He is not just a one trick bowler. He has got quite a few attacking weapons up his sleeve," he concluded.
