A few hundred metres from the sprawling campus of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, in a nondescript locality of Vastrapur, which houses multiple residential buildings, 15-odd boys slog it out in a playground adjoining a school.
The unrelenting afternoon sun fails to dampen their spirits as they seem obsessed with their own chores. A young pacer was trying to hyperextend the elbow as much as possible, in a bid to replicate Jasprit Bumrah’s action. One delivery slipped away from his grasp and the other landed wide as he simply couldn’t perfect it.
A little over a decade ago, Bumrah, with a resolute ambition and never willing to drop guard, went through a similar grind at this very ground. The Nirman High School nets were where his journey began and came into the limelight for his express pace.
Nirman High School in Ahmedabad
The school also strikes an emotional chord with the Bumrah family since it was here that his mother Daljit was the vice-principal of the pre- primary section in his growing years. Bumrah had shifted to Nirman High School after spending a year at HB Kapadia High School because of its superior cricketing infrastructure.
“There was a lot of curiosity surrounding him. When he started playing school and district cricket, word spread that there is a bowler who bowls very fast and has an awkward action,” Rajeev Desai, a former first-class player from Gujarat, who is now in charge of Nirman High School’s cricket team, recalls.
Bumrah was first spotted by the school’s two erstwhile coaches, Kishore Trivedi and Ketul Purohit, before Desai took him under the state fold. Desai was a selector then and immediately roped in Bumrah and Axar Patel into the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy side and later the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).
Jassi, as he is still fondly called by his coaches, always enjoyed the support of his mother in his career. “It was his raw pace that made us think that he was something special. We never tried to tinker with his natural action since that is what has made him special,” said Desai.
“At times, we were concerned if the action was injury-prone, but he worked hard on his fitness. He was skinny then, but never lacked discipline and was always willing to work hard.”
Bumrah made an impressive debut in SMAT in March 2013 at the Motera B ground. During this time, Mumbai Indians talent spotter and former India coach John Wright, along with former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla, were so impressed by the 19-year-old’s quirky action that they decided to take him under the franchise’s umbrella. A move which ultimately changed Bumrah’s life and transformed Indian cricket.
A month later, he made a sensational IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore, picking up three wickets, including that of their captain Virat Kohli, after conceding three boundaries.
Jasprit Bumrah’s school celebrates their feted alumnus
His transition from a school cricketer to the state level and finally attaining stardom had been closely followed by former Gujarat first-class player and coach Hitesh Majmudar, who is now the director at the Gujarat Cricket Association’s academy.
“His work ethic was different and unimaginable for his age. He was never tired of practice. After his usual sessions with the state team, he would practise yorkers on his own or look for mastery over cutters,” Majmudar recollected.
“I remember a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Jharkhand at Alur in December 2015. Bumrah uprooted Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s stumps with a yorker,” he said.
“Then, in the final, he took five wickets and we defeated Delhi by 139 runs. That Delhi team included Rishabh Pant, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan among others.”
It was because of Bumrah’s heroics that Gujarat enjoyed a dream run from 2013-14 in domestic cricket.
“He was a born genius. His cricketing brain was at an exalted level... You could easily make out the difference between him and the rest at practice sessions,” said Desai.
Majmudar remembered an incident during the Vijay Hazare Trophy when the umpires were not satisfied with his sling action and felt the bending of his arm was not as per permissible limits.
It led to a lot of dissent between the umpires and the Gujarat team management, but Majmudar finally managed to convince them that it was an extension of his arm and there was nothing illegal about it.
“Bumrah was naturally frustrated about it since he was then just making his mark on the domestic circuit. The murmurs were getting stronger with every match and finally, once the umpires were satisfied after watching his action closely, did he heave a sigh of relief,” Majmudar said.
“He always had the pace and would bowl at 140kmph. He possessed the yorker but has developed the slower ones and other variations with maturity. That he still manages to bowl at such a torrid pace even after surgeries proves that he is in a different league.”
It is impossible to miss Bumrah’s picture in the school’s illustrious hall of fame. “Ex-student of Nirman: Jasprit Bumrah; we are proud of you”, the poster serves as an inspiration to several students who hone their skills at the school nets under Desai.
While Bumrah’s visits have been few over the last decade because of his commitments, his mother was a guest of honour last month when the ICC T20 World Cup trophy made a pitstop at the school on a roadshow of India.
But he never misses a practice session when in Ahmedabad.
“He prefers to train at the Gujarat College ground whenever he is here. It allows him some privacy since not many frequent the place,” said Majmudar.
It is this perseverance and strife for excellence that have made Bumrah the sensational bowler he is.