England and India face red-hot series opener and Jasprit Bumrah conundrum

Remarkable bowler’s slingshot action will trouble batters at Headingley but fitness problems mean the tourists will have to manage him carefullyIf there was an enduring image from the last Test series between India and England, it was probably that of Jasprit Bumrah detonating Ollie Pope’s stumps in Visakhapatnam – a feet-seeking yorker so ridiculously sweet that the Food Standards Agency could have marked it red on their traffic-light system.A year and a bit on from England’s 4-1 defeat in Indiaon Friday, Bumrah remains the standout in the two attacks going into the first of five blockbuster Tests, beginning at Headingley on Friday. Even saying this sells him a bit short. Of the 86 bowlers to go past 200 Test wickets, none have done so at a lower average than Bumrah’s 19.4. Only Kasigo Rabada, with a strike rate of 38.9 to Bumrah’s 42, takes his wickets more regularly. Continue reading...

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