Stuart Broad: I used to hate facing Jasprit Bumrah

Former England bowler Stuart Broad has admitted to “hating” it whenever he had to face Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, calling his deliveries “unique and incredibly hard to pick up”.

In a column for the Daily Mail, Broad wrote that facing Bumrah “isn’t like facing anyone else in the world.

“If someone as good as Joe Root is habitually struggling with a particular bowler, you can bet your bottom dollar that every batter on the Test scene will be.”

Broad added that statistically, Bumrah “is right up there with the very best to have played the game”, emphasising his record of “152 wickets at just 20.28 runs each” in Test cricket.

The ex-England bowler, who retired after the 2023 Ashes series, went on to explain Bumrah’s “unique action” in detail.

“Because he trots in from a very calm, short, shuffling run-up, he generates no real energy and there is therefore no real build-up to the ball suddenly being upon you at the striker’s end,” said Broad.

He added that most fast bowlers tend to approach the crease “with such a tempo that your brain is telling you to expect searing pace”, but Bumrah is the opposite, instead creating pace “by bracing his front leg” and then “releasing the ball, not over his head or even over his front foot, but a good foot closer to the batter.

“The exemplary control he possesses comes from a short delivery stride, a feature that ensures great balance at the crease.”

Broad’s praise of the 30-year-old, who took six wickets over the two innings in the first Test and another six on day two of the second Test alone, didn’t end there.

“Bumrah has also got a complete array of skills”, he said, pointing out how he is “able to swing the new ball both ways” and “keep batters guessing.

“He only came back from a really nasty back injury last year and for him to be taking Test wickets in the manner he has is an inspiration for all bowlers who have suffered from long-term lay-offs.”