Jasprit Bumrah keeps a tab on commentary when Ravi Shastri hypes him on-air with towering praise: ‘He's listening…'

Hindustan Times

4 hours ago

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri hyped Jasprit Bumrah once again during commentary on Day 3 of Edgbaston as the Indian paceman listened to it on the sidelines with a smile on his face. Shastri, who has often praised Bumrah on-air, did it again when India were dominating England with half of their side back in the pavilion for 87. The premier pacer was rested for the second Test to manage his workload, which irked several cricket fans and pundits, including Shastri, who was not impressed with this call by the team management when India was trailing in the series. Ravi Shastri hyped Jasprit Bumrah from the commentary box.(PTI Images)
However, in his absence, Mohammed Siraj led the charge and dismantled the English batting line-up with a six-fer. He was well complemented by Akash Deep from the other end, who claimed four wickets.
When India were in the dominant position with the ball, Shastri made sure to hype Bumrah while he noticed that the Indian paceman was listening to his words from the sidelines with a cheeky smile on his face.
'Can you imagine if Jasprit was out there in the middle with that many runs on the board? He's listening. England wouldn't have been happy,' said Shastri.
The team management picked Akash Deep in place of Bumrah, and he justified his selection by claiming four wickets to give needed support to Siraj, the standout bowler.
Mohammed Siraj stands tall with a six-fer
Siraj's six-for is not only his best Test bowling performance in England but also marks him as only the second Indian bowler to take six wickets at Edgbaston since Chetan Sharma's 6/58 in 1986. Despite a game-changing 303-run stand between Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184*), which nearly tilted the balance in England's favour, Siraj stayed composed. With the second new ball in hand, he led India's fightback, dismantling the lower order by removing Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Shoaib Bashir in quick time. His timely breakthroughs ensured India regained control just as England looked set to pull off a dramatic turnaround.
By stumps, India had extended their overall lead to 244 runs at 64-1 in their second innings with KL Rahul (28*) and Karun Nair (7*) in the middle.