From knuckle balls to death bowling, Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah talk about their dominant run

The Indian bowling department has been firing on all cylinders across formats in the past two years. With Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Ravinder Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin grabbing the spotlight in Test cricket, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been splendid in the shorter format of the game.

In the second one-day game against New Zealand on Wednesday, Kumar and Bumrah were close to their best after a disappointing outing in Mumbai in the first match.

“It was a good performance after the last match. Whatever series we have played in the last six months in India, we have dominated throughout the series. This one is a short three-match series and when you are one down it is difficult for you to comeback so that shows the character of the team. Not just me but as a bowling unit and a batting unit we did really well,” said Kumar in an interaction on BCCI’s website.

“Basic plan today was to bowl wicket to wicket and not to give easy runs. Obviously getting early wickets is always very important for the team so that we can curtail them in the end. That was the basic plan. It worked today. It was good to play the supporting role and contribute to the team’s success,” said Bumrah.

Knuckleball factor

The duo picked up five wickets between them. Bumrah got the prized wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson as well. Going into the match, Kumar stuck to his basics. “I would say that only change I tried to make was to Colin Munro because in the last match he went after us. I had planned a few knuckle balls for him and then bowled a bouncer. That was the only change otherwise I stuck to my basics,” said Kumar.

Kumar setup Munro’s wicket beautifully before knocking his stumps out. Talking about the knuckle ball, Kumar said he started working on it before the Indian Premier League. “I developed it just before the India Premier League (IPL). In India the ball doesn’t swing much and we have two fielders in catching position. Keeping that in mind I tried to develop the knuckle ball. I didn’t know it will be handy in T20 and one-dayers,” said Kumar.

Bumrah developed the slower ball, which he cleverly used during the second one-day game. “I also developed the slower ball in the IPL. You have to have more than one trick to fool the batsmen. I have been using it since a long time. Probably I will use it more in the next matches to come,” said Bumrah.

Deadly death bowling

Bumrah and Kumar have been India’s best death bowlers for a while. Talking about the pressure that comes along with it, the 23-year-old says that execution is the key. “My mindset in the death overs is to have clarity, whichever ball you want to execute set the field according to that and bowl to your field. If you have locked in a ball that you want to bowl, then go ahead and try and execute it. I try to keep things simple so that gives you confidence as well,” said Bumrah.