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'I got Ricky Ponting out two or three times': Bumrah recalls Mumbai Indians call-up in 2013; 'They had discussion on me'
The 28-year-old revealed that he had troubled Ricky Ponting with his deliveries during a net session.
Team India's speedster Jasprit Bumrah began his Indian Premier League (IPL) career with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013. Bumrah's unorthodox action drew instant attention in the cricket fraternity and his stock rose, courtesy of his consistent performances with the ball. In the previous edition of the tournament, he broke into the list of top-10 highest wicket-takers in IPL and currently stands at 10th position with 130 dismissals to his name in 106 matches.
His brilliant performances for MI eventually paved the way for international selection in 2016. Over the years, Bumrah cemented his place as one of the few all-format players in the team and is widely regarded as one of the most lethal fast bowlers in international cricket.
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During a conversation with fellow Indian teammate and leading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Bumrah opened up on his first call-up to the Mumbai Indians camp. The 28-year-old revealed that he had troubled Ricky Ponting with his deliveries during a net session.
“Basically, I had gone into the Mumbai Indians camp and I was not going to play the first game because I and Axar Patel had joined the camp late. We were playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. We had been called late to the camp,” Bumrah began.
“The team was already practicing in Bangalore and we practiced with the team only for two days. Over there, the practice wickets were very green, and back then in 2013, the white ball used to swing. So, I was bowling with the new ball. I was bowling to Ricky Ponting and I used to bowl those big inswingers. I troubled everyone and I got him (Ponting) out two or three times, so they had a discussion on me that 'this guy had something different and let's play him',” Bumrah said on Ashwin's official YouTube channel.
The fast bowler further admitted that he never realised that he had an unorthodox action until then.
“I didn't realise that the action was that fascinating and eventually, people started to analyse that. But for me, as I told you, I was more interested in getting new things. I have that big inswinger but I didn't have that outswinger. Since childhood, I wanted to be able to bowl all deliveries. I enjoyed all of those deliveries as a child, I was never interested in watching big sixes or high-scoring games. I was interested in watching stumps being rattled, people getting hit. But yes, not getting seriously hit!” said Bumrah.
