“Sachin batted first and I bowled Jasprit. I said, ‘Jasprit, I want you to bowl to Sachin’. We had three or four bowlers in the fast bowling net. I will never forget, after Sachin got the net, he came to me. He said, ‘John, who’s that guy over there?’ I said, ‘That’s Bumrah, we’ve just signed him. ’ He said, ‘John, he’s really hard to pick.’ I almost jumped for joy because when he said that, I thought, That’s great. He had a difficult move to catch and Sachin spotted it immediately,” Wright said.That was enough to get the New Zealander quickly into the lineup. Although he didn’t play all the games in the first three seasons, he developed at a rapid pace and Mumbai Indians were patient enough to see his progress.“Jasprit only played two games that year, and not all the games the next two seasons… it took him a while. But, you know, people forget he was only 18 or 19 years old. And to become a performer, a consistent performer, it takes a little time,” Wright added.

Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah warms up before their IPL 2025 match against Chennai Super Kings. (Getty Images)

Mumbai Indians won the title in 2013 and 2015, but Bumrah hit his stride in 2016 and never looked back. From that year onwards, he remained among the wicket-takers in every season and his season economy never reached the 8-run mark. Three more films were launched in 2017, 2019 and 2020, starring Bumrah in the lead. During the golden years of the IPL franchise, Bumrah became a valuable asset that the national selectors could not ignore. He was selected in the white-ball squad and made his T20I and ODI debut in Australia in the 2016 season. Then, an unexpected test came when then head coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli released him with a red cherry against South Africa in 2018. The transition to red-ball cricket has been special for Wright, who still remembers the “beautiful spell” he bowled against England at Trent Bridge.“I remember when Bumrah first toured England with the Test team, I watched the Indian team play. I watched the match on TV. I didn’t play. But he hit a fantastic one at Trent Bridge. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s great.’ Because he had made the transition from limited-overs cricket to Test cricket. I was in Derbyshire. I was doing some coaching there. He had a great trip. He then took his game not only to the limited overs level but also to the Test level. That’s great. Because, you know, whoever’s working with him, whatever he’s thinking, I mean, he’s a very smart kid. And humble. And, you feel happy that they’re doing a good job,” Wright said.

Jasprit Bumrah bowls at Lord’s on day two of the third Test match between England and India. (Getty Images)

In between these appearances in different formats and the IPL matches, Bumrah battled back problems and eventually underwent surgery in March 2023. Critics, always skeptical of his “different” bowling options and the burden it placed on him, drew their swords and wrote off his comeback. They said it was impossible, but Bumla was not about to give up. He missed a lot of cricket after the surgery but performed well in the 2023 ODi World Cup and later played in Australia’s Border Gavaskar Trophy. Back problems resurfaced in the final Test in Sydney, forcing him to miss the Champions League, but he returned. This was followed by the 2024 T20 World Cup title in the Caribbean. While others continued to question and wonder, Bumrah slowly added to his trophy cabinet, which now includes five IPL titles and a T20 World Cup. In 234 matches for the national team, the “different action” bowler has always made an impact. He read and saw many of the opinions surrounding him and his longevity, but for much of this time he remained silent. In the past few years, things have changed.

File photo of Jasprit Bumrah receiving attention from a physiotherapist.

Speaking at a press conference after taking five wickets against England at Leeds last year, Bumrah hit back at critics who had given him only six months, or eight at most.“They said I could only last six months, then eight months. But fight and fight, I’m now close to completing ten years of international cricket. I’ve been playing in the IPL for 12 or 13 years. Even now, people are saying the same thing – ‘Now he’s leaving, now he’s retiring.'” Let them wait. I didn’t think about all that. I will continue to do my job. Every three or four months, people say, ‘Now he’s leaving, now he’s leaving.‘Let’s see,’ said Bumrah.“As long as God has written this for me, I will continue to play. I will prepare as best I can and then, I will leave everything to God. With all the blessings He has given me, I try to carry them forward. I also try to take Indian cricket forward,” he added.

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Roston Chase during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and West Indies in Kolkata. (Associated Press)

In the ongoing T20 World Cup, he is a real impact bowler for the team; Suryakumar Yadav has used him at different stages as he can play any role perfectly. Sometimes the scoreboard readings don’t elicit praise and accolades, but Bumrah focuses on impact and no one does it better than him. More than a decade after that delightful afternoon in Delhi, Bumrah has improved his skills to dangerous levels. He remains a prized possession and a polished diamond that has never lost its sparkle. If you ask a gemstone aficionado, he will immediately label Bumrah a diamond of D color and IF clarity. And this isn’t lab-grown, it’s polished over years of polishing.