New Delhi: England came prepared for the usual trial by spin that greets touring sides in India but a “magical” seam-bowling masterclass by Jasprit Bumrah in Visakhapatnam saw their hopes of victory in the second test vanish into thin air.
To deal with the expected conditions, England picked spin-heavy attacks complemented by a lone fast bowler both in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The frequency with which their batters played the sweep shots also indicated their resolve to conquer the spin challenge.
And after their spinners accounted for 18 of India’s 20 wickets en route to winning the first test, the tourists would have been anticipating another spin-fest in Visakhapatnam.
What they probably did not expect is that Bumrah would emerge as their main threat despite having hardly any assistance from the pitches so far in the series.
Armed with an unorthodox sling-shot action and a reversing ball, Bumrah went wide off the crease to create angles and operated with pinpoint accuracy to torment the batters.
His 9-91 on a spin-friendly track saw him named Player of the Match, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden double hundred.
Bumrah’s domination of England’s top batters particularly stood out in India’s series-levelling victory.