Pakistan-born UAE cricketer claims he taught Jasprit Bumrah to bowl slower deliveries: 'Mumbai Indians called me'

Pakistan-origin UAE cricketer Zahoor Khan has claimed that he once helped Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah understand how to bowl slower deliveries during a conversation in 2019. As per Zahoor, the incident happened in 2019 when the Indian Premier League was being played in the UAE due to COVID-19.

In his interview, Zahoor said that the Mumbai Indians franchise called him that year to bowl in the nets and help train the players for games. He recalled how he and Jasprit Bumrah discussed the technique of bowling slower balls during the tournament.

Zahoor said Bumrah already used slower deliveries earlier, but his method was slightly different at that time. According to him, the discussion happened after a match in Abu Dhabi, where several fast bowlers had struggled because of dew.

“Let me tell you a story. Bumrah used to bowl slower balls before, but with normal action. In one of the matches in Abu Dhabi, he, Trent Boult, and Nathan Coulter-Nile conceded a lot of runs. The IPL was happening in September that year. In September, in the UAE, it’s 50 degrees. It’s very hot. You can’t even hold the ball properly at night because it gets wet,” Zahoor said.

“So Mumbai Indians called me, I did quarantine for 6 days, went to practice on the 7th day. I was with the team that night. Zaheer Khan and Robin Singh knew me because I did a maiden over in T10 league. I bowled the first one yorker and next five deliveries were slower ones. I bowled slow. So we were sitting together, Bumrah came and sat in front of the table, Rohit Sharma came and sat there, I was sitting there, I was watching,” he added.

Zahoor says Bumrah never shied away from learning

Zahoor said Bumrah came over and asked him about the deliveries he was bowling in T10 league. “Zaheer Khan told me to show my video where I bowled a maiden over. Bumrah looked at it and asked me, ‘Brother, what are you bowling here?’ I said they were slower balls. Then he asked me how I bowl them,” Zahoor said.

“I said, in the same action, in the same grip. He said, how is this possible? I said, I’ll tell you in practice. He said, okay you have to tell me your grip in the next practice. I said, okay. When the practice came, I was bowling. Shane Bond was the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians. And Mahela Jayawardene was standing behind the nets. So I came and did a slower bouncer. It beat the batsman. Shane Bond said, what is your grip? Do you bowl off-cutters? I said, no, it’s the same grip.”

“He said show me, I threw it like this and then two or three slower balls. So he told Jayawardene that this is a new thing in cricket. He said, ‘Look how good he bowls the slower balls, in the same action and arm speed. So after a day or two, I was bowling with Bumrah. So he said, Paaji, what is your grip, show me. So I showed him, it’s the same. I threw it like this, it has to come in the same action. So he bowled and said, ’this is the next level thing.’ I mean, I’m a player for UAE right now and he’s a world-class bowler. So I really liked that thing that he’s such a big star and he was asking me,” he concluded.

Bumrah recently played a key role in helping India win the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, delivering crucial spells in both the semifinal and final as India successfully defended their title. He also made a really good use of his slower balls, which players often fail to read because of the same action as his faster ones.