In a podcast with Michael Vaughan on The Overlap Cricket, Yuvraj Singh shared a story from his early encounters with Jasprit Bumrah.
Did Yuvraj really ask Bumrah to leave the nets?
Vaughan asked how Yuvraj would have fared against Bumrah, prompting a recall from 2013. At the time, Yuvraj was returning to cricket after recovering from cancer and was trying to regain rhythm in the nets.
During those sessions, a young fast bowler repeatedly troubled him with pace and bounce. Yuvraj admitted he asked for the bowler to be taken out of the nets. “I want this kid out of the nets,” he recalled saying, as he was not prepared to face that level of intensity while rebuilding his game.
Was Bumrah already a problem even at 16?
Years later, Bumrah reminded Yuvraj of the incident. The former India all-rounder said the bowler was already quick, even if he had not yet developed his full skill set.Yuvraj noted that Bumrah had a slightly longer run-up back then but retained the same action that makes him difficult to pick. The pace and bounce stood out straight away and often cramped batters.
He added that facing such bowling during his recovery phase was not ideal, which led to his decision at the time. “He was extremely quick,” Yuvraj said, explaining why he chose to step away.
“If Jasp didn’t bowl a good over at that stage, we were done,” Yuvraj Singh said.Michael Vaughan and Yuvraj also praised Jasprit Bumrah for his spell in the T20 World Cup semi-final, including a crucial death over against Bethell, who had scored a century in that match.
They noted that batters rarely take Bumrah on, often choosing to rotate strike and target other bowlers instead. India went on to win the match narrowly and later became T20 World Cup champions.