India vs England: Michael Atherton explains why Stokes is struggling against Bumrah

Ben Stokes getting cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah has become a regular feature in the ongoing India-England Test series. Stokes' helplessness against Bumrah’s swinging delivery has become the hallmark of his dismissals and the former England captain Michael Atherton feels the current skipper is struggling to pick up the pace of Bumrah. Stokes has been bowled twice in four innings of the two Tests so far by the brilliant Indian pacer. “Picking with the speed of the ball is tough with him (Bumrah), and I’ve noticed with Stokes, even Stokes is an excellent player of fast bowling. He’s hurried with Bumrah,” Atherton said on Sky Cricket. “He struggles to pick up the pace and a couple of times when he’s (Bumrah) got him, it looks as though the ball has kept low, which has, but it also almost beaten him for pace as well. I think that’s the issue with Bumrah.”

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Bumrah has been India’s best bowler in the home Test series so far, picking up 15 wickets in first two Tests. His nine wickets in the Visakhapatnam Test allowed India to comeback and in the Test series and level the score 1-1. The highlight of his Vizag performance was the wicket of Ollie Pope in which Bumrah obliterated the stumps with a yorker.

Atherton added against such a yorker, a batter could not have done much. “It was spectacular (yorker) wasn’t it? I don’t see what Pope could’ve done with that. It was an unbelievable image as Pope walked back, he said. The third India-England Test will be played at Rajkot from 15 February.