India struggled with the ball in the Lord’s test; the struggle was not with dismissing batters or taking wickets at regular intervals, but was rather with convincing the umpire that the ball was constantly being deformed within some overs of play.
The field umpires were seen in constant interaction with the bowling side, as Indian pacers as well as their skipper constantly kept nagging about the texture of the ball. The ball was too soft in some overs of play. Mohammed Siraj mocked the umpire, saying, ‘Is this a 10-over old ball, seriously?’
However, India had that one man whom you will never find complaining on the track. Catches dropped, decisions not going his way, and now the ball getting deformed, Jasprit Bumrah is never into complaining; he purely focuses on his bowling, and here he is on the Lord’s honours board with another 5-fer.
Jasprit Bumrah fears ‘match fees deduction’
In the post-match interview, Jasprit Bumrah was asked about his views on this constant change of ball and how much impact the ball’s deformation has on his bowling.
However, Jasprit Bumrah, who returned to the India Playing 11 for the Lord’s test after having been rested in the previous game at Edgbaston, clearly did not want to land himself amid controversies.
He mentioned fearing losing his well-deserved money, as he toiled hard and bowled several overs, slightly agreeing to the fact that, yes, the changing ball was causing some trouble.
“The ball changes, I don’t really control that. Obviously, I don’t want to lose out on money because I work very hard and bowl a lot of overs. So, I don’t want to say any controversial statements and get my match fees deducted,” said Bumrah.
However, Bumrah had an honest take, saying that such circumstances sometimes go your way and sometimes they don’t.
“But we were bowling with the ball that we were given. And that’s how it is. We can’t change it, we can’t fight it. Sometimes it goes your way. Sometimes you get a bad ball. That’s how it is,” he added.
English legend has a proposal for the ball change rule
English batter Joe Root was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah early on Day 2, but Bumrah picked up all three of his wickets within the first 14 deliveries of his spell and could not be effective after that, as India had to change the ball again after 18 deliveries played with it.
Root, at the end of the day’s play, suggested that every team should be given three opportunities to change or swap the ball over the course of their 80 overs. This would keep players out of the repeated frustration of repeatedly swapping the Dukes ball.
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Jasprit Bumrah becomes the 15th Indian bowler on the Lord’s honours board
India has been a historic side in the game of cricket, and several greats have been stars in the longest format of the game. Though the London Honours board misses names of veteran Indian cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli, several others have made India proud at Lord’s.
Several Indian bowlers have enlisted them in the Lord’s honours board, and Jasprit Bumrah is the newest addition to the list.
Indian bowlers on the Lord’s Honours board:
Mohammad Nissar – 1932
Amar Singh – 1936
Lala Amarnath—1946
Vinoo Mankad – 1952 (Double mention for scoring a hundred (first by an Indian) and picking a five-wicket haul)
Ramakant Desai – 1959
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar – 1967
Bishan Singh Bedi—1974
Kapil Dev—1982
Chetan Sharma – 1986
Venkatesh Prasad – 1996
RP Singh – 2007
Praveen Kumar – 2011
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 2014
Ishant Sharma – 2014
Jasprit Bumrah – 2025