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4 min readFeb 15, 2026 10:14 PM IST
But great fast bowlers take the surface out of the equation. Like Bumrah. (AP Photo)
Pakistan was once the world’s (read the neighbour’s) envy. Fast bowlers pounced from everywhere, from the alleys and gallis, from universities and academies, from plains and peaks. So abundant was the stock that some of the gifted ones never received their due love or affection. Aaquib Javed, for instance, a svelte swing-seam merchant whose virtues were lost in the era of the two Ws. Now, in a shocking reflection of a lost heritage, they look over the border and envy the dazzling oeuvre of Jasprit Bumrah.
He seems to be a bowler accidentally born in India; spiritually he belongs to the Pakistan school of fast-bowling oddities. He wowed Pakistan fans and pundits, transfixed them in a trance like once Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had subjected India’s supporters to. The night was remarkable in capturing the changing tides of India-Pakistan rivalry, in more ways than one. Pakistan used only one fast bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi, His two overs were outright bland, bereft of heat, hostility and magic. Whatever happened to the fiendish in-swinging, toe-crusher of his. He was a shadow of the terror he once was, a metaphor of Pakistan’s fading fast-bowling heritage.
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It was supposed to be a turners’ track, and for good measure it certainly was. But great fast bowlers take the surface out of the equation. Like Bumrah. His first over seemed choreographed in a fast-bowlers’ haven. Saim Ayub greeted him with a streaky six. He let out a hurtful smile. It’s a spur he required to unshackle the beast in him. The next ball was pure evil. A full, whirring, low-flung devil into Ayub’s pads. He swiped across the line. At least, he wouldn’t die defending. Or at least he would put on a brave face. But the ball was inch-perfect, its outward curl, the zip it generated off the surface, the swerve back and its missile-like detonation of Ayub’s pads. It would have burned a hole. Had the pads been white, the mark of the seam would have remained a scar, a reminder of Ayub’s terrible night with the bat in Colombo. Bumrah smirked, the six had clearly hurt him. But the revenge was instant and joyful.
"THEY CANNOT PLAY HIM!" 🔥
Jasprit Bumrah gets Saim Ayub & Salman Agha out in the same over! Pakistan are 3 down 🥶
ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | #INDvPAK | LIVE NOW 👉https://t.co/SpqYo6n3dL pic.twitter.com/2mVlsnJBqI
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 15, 2026
He ejected Salman Agha last ball. He flicked the ball bending into his legs. But the ball was slower, bounced more than he judged and took off the upper side of his bat. Whoever conceived the plan of counterattacking Bumrah was delusional.
The next over, Babar Azam and Usman Khan played him out prudently. At the other end, Hardik Pandya piled on the pressure, with his hard and strangling lengths. The heavy ball hurried the batsman. Batsmen simply couldn’t pre-plan aggressive strokes against him. His first over was a wicket maiden, the over that set the tone for India. By the end of the second over, Pakistan had reeled to 13 for 3. Spinning or seaming deck, dry or juicy surfaces, India’s pacemen have the tools.
Indian fans of a certain vintage would feel a sense of deja vu. Numerous times have Pakistan seamers punctured India’s top-order, provoked dread as much as admiration, as though they were bloated balloons. The tides have changed. The night in Colombo was a reminder. Pakistan’s seamers are no longer the envy of the world or India. But Bumrah certainly is.
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