Ganguly urges support for Bumrah to sustain impact across five-Test series

Former skipper Sourav Ganguly expressed the hope that the rest of the Indian pace unit will step up in the ongoing Test series against England to ease the burden on Jasprit Bumrah, allowing the star pacer to feature in all five matches of the tour.

Bumrah was India’s standout performer with the ball in England’s first innings at Headingley, finishing with figures of 5 for 83 in 24.4 overs as the hosts were bowled out for 465 on Day 3. Despite being injury-prone and carefully managing his workload, Bumrah bowled the second-most overs for India, behind only Mohammed Siraj, who delivered 27 overs.

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Ganguly, the former BCCI president, praised Bumrah’s consistency across all formats and his importance to the Indian side, but also highlighted the need for greater support from his fellow pacers, including Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna and Siraj. While Krishna picked up three wickets and Siraj two, both conceded over 100 runs, which ultimately reduced India’s first-innings advantage to just six runs.

“Such a pleasure to watch Bumrah bowl in all formats of the game .. hopefully he will get support from the other end so that he can play 5 tests .. it will keep India in the series .. @bcci @Jaspritbumrah93,” Ganguly posted on X.

Following the day’s play, Bumrah reflected on his journey in international cricket, emphasising the role of self-belief in overcoming skepticism surrounding his unique action and injury history.

“I always wanted to play for India. I played for India on my belief. I have played every format on my belief. I have always heard ‘no’ from people. First they said ‘you won’t be able to play’; then they said ‘you will last only six months’; then they said ‘you will last only eight months’, and just like that I have spent ten years in international cricket listening to all this. I have played the IPL for 12-13 years.

“Even now people keep saying this injury will be it. Keep waiting, I will not think about that. I will keep doing my work. Every three-four months there will be headlines but, let’s see, I will play till it is in my destiny. I prepare my best, and leave the rest to god. Whatever barkat (abundance or good fortune) God has given me, I try to carry it forward, and try to take Indian cricket forward,” he added.