VISAKHAPATNAM: Treasure these moments. Bottle it and sell it in the supermarkets. In a country where it’s fashionable to chant slogans, maybe give ‘Jai Jasprit Bumrah’ a try.
As the clock ticked past 4.25 PM, the Stadium was bathed in two kinds of light – artificial and natural. In the middle, there was a third kind. Divinity as Jasprit Bumrah stood near the pitch, his arms held aloft. He had the innings ball with figures of 6/45 after 15.5 overs.
He doesn’t do theatrics but he may have as well ripped his shirt and gone all Maximus. “Are You Not Entertained?” In the terraces, they surely were. They were whistling, cheering and honking one of India’s greatest fast bowlers. Four hours earlier, they were quiet, glum-faced and took to stress eating at lunch. There were only prayers and vibes.
Rohit had more problems than in your typical 12th standard Mathematics textbook. A proud Test record at home was on the line. The last time they lost back-to-back matches in a series on these shores, Hyderabad, the venue of the first Test, was in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana was yet to be realised and Visakhapatnam was a quaint coastal town without any of the modern aspirations and ambitions. You don’t want to be the captain that goes into the history books for the wrong reasons.
Luckily, you can get away with only prayers. As long as you have Bumrah and an assortment of other individuals capable of individual brilliance from time to time.