‘If we hit him for a boundary…’ - Jasprit Bumrah's teenage friend reveals interesting anecdote about star pacer

Jasprit Bumrah has been a menace to batters at the international and domestic levels since the early days of his career. The right-arm quick bowler's bowling arsenal ranges from slow deliveries to intimidating reverse-swinging yorkers. His consistency, ability to handle pressure in crunch moments and never-give-up mentality make him a champion bowler.

In a live show on NewsX channel, Bumrah’s teenage friend Bhargav Merai shared an interesting tale about the 30-year-old pacer. Merai said that even at the age of 19, Bumrah was very fast and he never liked being beaten by the batters in the nets.

“When I saw him, he was 19 years old and he was then also very quick, very fast, very deceptive, but one thing is for sure he never likes to get hit even in the nets. He has broken so many of our bats, that we always ask for bats from him because he has broken so many hits," he said.

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Bumrah doesn’t like to get hit: Bhargav Meria

Merai added that if someone hits Bumrah for a boundary in the nets, he can expect a bouncer or a yorker in the next deliveries. This shows the fighting mentality of the Gujarat-born cricketer, which is why world-class batters struggle to find runs against him in international cricket.

“If we hit him for a boundary, the next few balls are gonna be ripper, bouncer, yorker so, we are kind of used to it and now, international cricket is also facing the same thing, he doesn’t like to get hit,” Merai recalled old memories with India's premier pacer during a conversation with Indian Sports Fan founder Sunil Yash Kalra and Sports Info editor Umesh Sharma. 

Bumrah, one of the pillars of the Indian cricket team, is currently preparing for the T20 World Cup starting on June 2 in USA/West Indies. The Mumbai Indians (MI) trump card had an effective outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, picking up 20 wickets in 13 innings. Although his team finished the campaign at the bottom of the points table, Bumrah has been excellent as usual.