
Jasprit Bumrah (L) Sachin Tendulkar (R) (Source: AP/X)
There are not many words in the dictionary to describe the greatness of Jasprit Bumrah. Despite three centuries and 471 runs on the board in the first innings of the Leeds Test, India wouldn't have been in the game had Bumrah not stepped up to peg England back. The England batting is brutal, and when the pitch offers little to no help, there is very little the bowlers can do. But Bumrah is different. He isn't too much dependent on the conditions and can rattle a team even in the flattest conditions.
Bumrah picked a well-deserved five-wicket haul in the first innings of the Leeds Test and helped India take a slender six-run lead. India could have been in a much better position had they delivered a better fielding performance, but too many drop catches meant that India couldn't really run away with the game.
Bumrah didn't do much wrong in the test, barring the last over on Day 2 when he dismissed Harry Brook for a duck on a no-ball. Brook was on zero, and he went on to hammer the Indians with a brutal 99. Before the error, Bumrah had seen three catches go down off his bowling - twice for Ben Duckett and once for Ollie Pope, who went on to score a hundred. Things didn't change on Day 2 as well as Brook was again dropped off Bumrah; however, this time he didn't make India pay as much as he did after being caught on a no-ball.
Had India taken their chances, they probably would have been way ahead in the game, but as things stand, it's anybody's game with India ahead by 96 runs.
Meanwhile, Bumrah got huge praise from legendary Sachin Tendulkar soon after wrapping up the England innings with a brilliant five-for. Tendulkar took a sharp swipe at lathargic Indian fielding while praising Bumrah for the herculean effort.
Meanwhile, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early in the second innings before KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan stabilised the innings. Sudharsan fell for 30 to give England the second breakthrough of the day. India are 90-2 at stumps on Day 3.