Jasprit Bumrah would hold his head in his hands, look ruefully at replays of balls missing the bat by a whisker and give that painful smile of frustration when a catch would go down in the slips. And between overs, he would be on the boundary line looking pensive.
The story of England’s fightback of extending their total to 465 all out, six short of India’s 471, was less about Bumrah’s five-wicket-haul and more about the five dropped catches and the ineffectiveness of the other bowlers. The loneliness of Bumrah summed up India’s bowling effort and negated the advantage the batsmen gave them on the first day of the Test.
At stumps, the game hung in balance. India were 90/2 with KL Rahul looking in great touch unbeaten on 47. England would be happy to have dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for 4 and Sai Sudharsan for 30.
On the eve of the Test, India’s former bowling coach Bharat Arun, who has worked with all the bowlers in the present team, had flagged a bowling problem. “It is high time other bowlers rally around Bumrah and put their hands up and say ‘let’s do the job for India’,” he had said.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another five-star show from #JaspritBumrah! 🔥
The pace ace picks up his 12th five-wicket haul (Joint-most by an Indian pacer overseas) outside India wrapping up England’s innings! 🇮🇳🎯
#ENGvIND 1st Test Day 3 LIVE NOW Streaming on JioHotstar 👉… pic.twitter.com/5b2WUEA4Gg
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On Saturday, Bumrah, like a topper in a remedial class, repeatedly putting his hand up, managing to somehow keep India in the game. Bowlers are said to operate in pairs. India, however, has not been lucky in that regard at Headingley.
Mohammad Siraj didn’t step up. He has the skills to succeed in England but doesn’t seem to have the right strategy. His best spell in the game came on the third morning when he abandoned his scrambled-ball obsession that was evident on Day 2. With a conventional seam release, he produced a series of good deliveries, and ended up luring Ben Stokes into edging one. But inexplicably when he returned for a spell with the second new ball, he was back to the scrambled seam stuff. And Harry Brook smashed him for boundaries with disdain, scrambling Siraj’s brain.
After the end of Day 2, England opener Ben Duckett was asked a very pertinent question about the difference in playing Burmah and the other bowlers. After acknowledging Bumrah’s class, he said: “As for other bowlers you can see from the hand whether they are bowling a wobble ball or swing,” he said. Bumrah, according to him, at the last minute can make the ball swing, bounce or crash at the base of the stump with his fast wrist movement. This was straight from the opener’s mouth – Siraj’s wobble ball gives an early warning.
If a batsman of Brook’s caliber starts reading the ball from the hand, the run-making becomes easier for him. Even when he premeditated, he was able to improvise. Once as Brook charged out, Siraj banged the ball short. It didn’t help as Brook ramped it over the slips. He also hit the bowler for a straight six. It was an insulting stroke as it needed Bumrah to walk across and put his arm around a downcast Siraj.
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The other pacer Prasidh Krishna too didn’t do the basic job asked of him – to creat pressure from the other end when Bumrah was bowling. In one over, Brook first belted a length ball through covers and two balls later thumped another to mid-wicket. This came after a Bumrah over where he beat the edge and almost got him to edge behind the stumps.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah reacts during day three of the first cricket test match between England and India at Headingley in Leeds, England, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
The English kept getting free passes in the first session but after lunch, Brook was given a life, courtesy the constantly fumbling slip cordon. This was a period of play when India had the perfect setting to get wickets and manage to get a modest first innings lead.
By the time the players returned after lunch, the cloud cover was over Headingley and the temperature had dipped. In the stands the jackets and blankets were out. For the first time in the series, Indians were in winter-wear. Bumrah might have been licking his lips to be in the middle. To help matters, even the new ball was due.
In the fourth over with the second new ball, Bumrah floated a swinging ball outside off-stump. Brooks went for the drive but ended up edging to slip. This time there wasn’t even a surprise around the stadium as Yashasvi Jaiswal floored the ball. Bumrah gave that painful smile again. Eventually, Brook got out, mistiming a pull when on 99, caught on the fence. But he had scored enough to deflate the Indian bowling.
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From getting the early breakthrough, ending partnerships to even cleaning up the tail, India needed Bumrah for everything. After Brook’s dismissal, England’s tailenders took the score from 398/7 to 465 all out.
What could have been a truly memorable day for Bumrah was spoiled by the lack of support from his mates. Bumrah added to his aura by becoming the pacer with the best strike rate in a 20 Test phase. It was also a day when, for the first time in 10 years, two Indian pacers, Siraj and Prasidh, conceded more than 120 runs. As Bumrah walked out of the field, raising the ball to the crowd, acknowledging their claps for his fifer, at a far distance behind followed the rest of the team. It was the picture of Bumrah’s loneliness and gulf in class between him and others.
