Birmingham: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri reacted to skipper Jasprit Bumrah’s record 35-run over against England pacer Stuart Broad on day two of rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston, saying what he “saw today was absolutely bizarre”.
Before Bumrah hammered Broad for four fours, two sixes besides picking up a single from the eight-ball over which also included a no-ball and five wides in the 84th over, India were 377/9 with England’s chances of keeping them under 400 looking bright.
But then came carnage in the 84th over, with 29 runs coming off Bumrah’s bat and rest coming from six extras, making it the most expensive over in the history of Test cricket. It propelled India to cross the 400-run mark and eventually end at 416 in 84.5 overs after being 98/5 at one stage. Bumrah remained unbeaten on 31 off 16 balls and added 41 for the last wicket with Mohammed Siraj (2).
“Now don’t tell me I was again on the mic, when 35 runs were scored. I thought I’d seen it all, but not really, you know 36 from Yuvraj (Singh), 36 I had hit myself. And today what I saw was bizarre.
“It’s something we would have never imagined, the world record from Jasprit Bumrah, batting at number 10 as captain of India for the first time, going past (Brian) Lara, George Bailey and Keshav Maharaj,” said Shastri in a video uploaded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their Twitter account.
Broad had become just the sixth bowler to take 550 Test wickets after taking out Mohammed Shami. But Broad’s strategy of bowling too short at Bumrah, resembling the scenes from last year’s second Test at Lord’s, saw runs come at a whirlwind pace for India. Bumrah pulled the first ball from Broad for a boundary. It was a top-edge that Crawley very nearly got to, but it evaded him and bounced over the rope.
Broad again dug it short and it went high over wicketkeeper Sam Billings’ head for five wides. More agony followed for him as Bumrah bludgeoned a friendly full toss over mid-on for another boundary and then got an inside edge to fine leg for yet another boundary.
Bumrah fell while trying to swat Broad over deep square leg, but the ball sailed comfortably for the fourth boundary of the over. Another short ball from Broad was pulled brilliantly by Bumrah over fine leg for six, giving him the world record for scoring most runs in an over of Test cricket.
Before this, West Indies’ Brian Lara held the world record after scoring 28 runs against South African left-arm spinner Robin Peterson in 2003, so as Australia’s George Bailey, who achieved the mark against James Anderson and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj giving the thrashing to Joe Root.
“29 off the over; the bowler the same, who Yuvraj hit for six sixes, Stuart Broad, going for that many (in 2007 Men’s T20 World Cup, South Africa). And the entire over went for 35, which is again a world record, the previous highest was 28.”
“So, you know, you feel you’ve seen everything but you must realise you’re still a student in the game. Something would surprise you on another day, but what I saw today was something absolutely bizarre. Jasprit Bumrah breaking the world record of getting 29 off his bat in a 35 run over,” added Shastri.
India are currently in position of ascendancy in the match as rain stopped proceedings, with England at 31/2 in 6.3 overs, with Bumrah taking out openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley on either side of a lengthy lunch break.
(IANS)
