The opponent is Australia. It’s the first innings of the match. The No 11 batsman, the typical tail-ender in cricket, is on strike for the last ball of the 50th over. And the first ball he faces, he hits it for a six and no one can quite believe what they have seen. The non-striker runs up to him and they have a laugh about.
It was Venkatesh Prasad in Nairobi in 2000. And then, Jasprit Bumrah in Mohali in 2019.
India’s foremost fast bowler is known for all his exploits with the ball at the death but on Sunday, he stunned everyone with his first six in international cricket.
After he hit Pat Cummins, of all people, for a six off the last ball there was laughter all around. Virat Kohli, for one, could not quite believe what he had seen and jumped up in joy, clapping furiously.
Bumrah’s six provided some instant throwback to the moment Prasad hit a six off Ian Harvey in Nairobi in the ICC Mini World Cup. The reaction from Zaheer Khan at the other end was something similar to what we saw in Mohali on Sunday.
Bumrah joined an elite list of cricketers to achieve the feat as well.
And, speaking of No 11 hitting sixes that left the dressing room delighted, how about this from Glenn McGrath against New Zealand in a Test match?
Cricket is truly a gift that gives us some epic moments like these.
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