Leeds, June 22 (IANS) Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah for his ability to manufacture a wicket every time he come into the attack and compared the Indian pace ace to New Zealand great Richard Hadlee, the first player to reach 400 Test wickets.

When India bowled out for 471 in 113 overs after Shubman Gill’s career-best 147 and Rishabh Pant’s astonishing 134 – his seventh ton in the format, England had to deal with a menacing Bumrah, who picked 3-45. But Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett added 122 runs for the second wicket to bring some normalcy into England’s innings as the hosts ended the day 209/3, trailing India by 262 runs.

“We’ve seen four hundreds in the match so far — three from India and one from England — but which bowler has been truly special? For me, it’s just Bumrah. Yet, just the ability to manufacture a wicket every time he came into the attack is what stands out. The one bowler that comes to mind, someone with that kind of impact single-handedly, is Sir Richard Hadlee.

“He played for a New Zealand team with a relatively weaker attack, but every time he came on, you felt a wicket was around the corner. The common thread between the two is mastery — when I watched Hadlee from close quarters, he felt like a true master of his trade. I get that same impression with Bumrah,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.

While Duckett fell for 62, Pope overcame his usual nervous start to score his ninth Test hundred, laced with 13 fours. Pope got a life on 60 when he tried to steer off Bumrah in the final session, but the Indian ace found success when Duckett chopped onto his stumps and fell for 62 off 94 balls.

“With Ollie Pope’s hundred for me, it was also Bumrah in the final over. Just look at this guy — the kind of wicket he picked on a pitch like this. We saw during the 2023 Cricket World Cup how he put himself in a different league from the rest of the fast bowlers, and here he is doing it again. The dismissal came with such nonchalance, and that’s something only Bumrah can manufacture. Ben Stokes does it for England to some degree, but this guy does it consistently,” said Manjrekar.

Just before stumps, Bumrah had Harry Brook give a top edge on a pull to mid-wicket, but didn’t get the scalp as replays showed he overstepped for the third time in the over. He ended the day with an absolute ripper to surprise Brook with his length and angle.

“In that final over, with Harry Brook trying to survive, what happened was pure drama. We witnessed the genius of Bumrah when he got him to pull a short ball he hadn’t used at all throughout the innings. The setup was brilliant — delivery after delivery outside the off stump — and then came that surprise bouncer. Nowhere in the corner of his mind would Harry Brook have expected it. It came, and he instinctively played the shot,” he added.

–IANS

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