Jasprit Bumrah recalls early struggles: 'My mother was adamant that I master English'

Jasprit Bumrah’s emergence through the Indian Premier League was a blessing for cricket in the country as the Indian squad was in critical need of a bowler for the death overs. John Wright first noticed him in 2013 during a domestic T20 match between Gujarat and Mumbai. He was so impressed that the former India coach, who was recruiting for Mumbai Indians, immediately wanted to select Bumrah. That year, the Gujarat boy joined Mumbai Indians and as Lasith Malinga’s apprentice, the scantily-built pacer managed to master the technique of delivering inch-perfect yorkers. Since then, he has developed into a crucial component of the Indian team’s limited-overs squad. Since his introduction to the Indian national team, Bumrah has faced a lot of ups and downs during his cricketing journey. However, his first experience with difficulty came when he was quite young. When Bumrah’s father died, he was not even five years old. During an exclusive interview with GQ magazine, the India quick recalled how the family rallied around him at that time, marking the beginning of Bumrah’s journey to success today. “My mother was forced to start working. We had enjoyed ups before returning to zero one day. As a result, we are now stable when we return to a high because we have experienced a low. We are aware that we cannot lose control. We’ve learned a lot from that time period. We will never be able to repay my mother for all that she has done for us,” Bumrah said. Bumrah’s mother, a primary school principal, wanted her son to have a strong command over the English language. She believed that a better or more steady profession would have been assured by better  language skills. The 28-year-old cricketer, however, did make it clear that he was never under any pressure to pursue a career as a doctor or an engineer. “She never made me do anything against my will or told me I had to become an engineer or a doctor. In fact, because I was usually playing cricket, it would have been challenging for my mother to imagine me as a doctor or engineer. However, my mother was adamant that I master the English language because she was a school principal,” Bumrah added further. On Thursday, reports of an injury to Bumrah, ahead of the T20 World Cup, hit the Indian cricket fans quite hard. Prior to India’s first Twenty20 international match against South Africa, he was diagnosed with a back injury and will miss the remaining two games of the series. The pacer has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, is still holding out hope for India’s frontline bowler. Ganguly said that he had his “fingers crossed” before Team India depart for Australia on 6 October. Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook****,  Twitter and  Instagram****.