It took Jasprit Bumrah 17 balls before he smirked at New Zealand A opener Curtis Heaphy. The all-knowing expression after beating the batter to convey that he has a battle on his hands. Up until then, Bumrah had been searching for bowling rhythm on his return to red-ball cricket after almost a year at the leafy Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln on Sunday.
The last time India’s jersey No.93 ran in wearing whites was November 2025, at home against South Africa. It’s been that long. Bumrah missed three Tests that India have played in that span. Rested against Afghanistan, he failed to regain fitness for the Sri Lanka tour.
How Bumrah would wish he could stay in the park for longer uninterrupted windows. Bumrah’s unorthodox bowling action can be punishing to his body. Doctors have advised him not to risk playing back-to-back Tests in a long series. His international appearances are so carefully planned that he has had to get accustomed to comebacks — if not from an injury then on account of workload management. This year, he has featured in only two ODIs. In a year where the Indian T20 team has been globetrotting, Bumrah has played only in five T20Is, and those to help him ease back into international cricket.
By now, the 32-year-old speedster is used to dealing with the butterflies — if everything will be alright and fighting the what ifs. Bumrah was sporting a mop of thick hair and a touch unkempt beard, as if reminding everyone that he had been lying low for a kill. To begin with, as he walked into rushed steps in his unique run up towards the batter with three slips and a gully for India A, Bumrah mostly employed the incoming ball to New Zealand A’s right-handed batters.
Into his fourth over, as the bowler began to hit more consistent lengths, the batters’ control percentage started to drop. Bumrah mixed it up with yorkers. Late into his longish 6-over spell, there was a hint of away movement too. By no means was Bumrah (6-1-11-0) at his threatening best, nothing like Prasidh Krishna (also back from injury), who at the other end consistently produced disconcerting bounce and delivered two wickets with the fuller balls.
Bumrah tried hard, but couldn’t find a channel which he could stick to.
But his bowling six overs on the trot on his comeback itself is good news. Even in the absence of speed guns on the broadcast, you could gauge from the height at which wicket-keeper Dhurv Jurel gathered that ball that the batters were facing a challenge. Bumrah will bowl some more on Monday, staggered spells, the odd long one to test his bowling endurance to be fully prepared for the Wellington Test starting on Nov 19.
Setting the record straight
An Indian pace attack with and without Bumrah has an entirely different look. Especially in away tours where fast bowlers are supposed to be the lead acts. Bumrah’s presence, his ability to comprehend pitch conditions and share knowledge has no match. The senior pacer will be doubly determined to leave his stamp on the tour as New Zealand is one territory in his SENA performance graph where he does not enjoy a great record.
This is only Bumrah’s second Test tour of New Zealand. For reasons that have little to do with cricket, India plays Test cricket sparingly in New Zealand. In today’s hyper-commercialised world, the unfavourable time zones become a factor. Financial excel sheets don’t matter though to champions used to greatness. Bumrah knows New Zealand is one record he needs to set straight. India’s last series in 2020 was also two Tests and they were played at the same venues like this time — Wellington and Christchurch. India were beaten fair-and-square 2-0, but Bumrah would be better off for the experience.
His bowling average in New Zealand (31.66) pales in comparison to his career average (19.79). Of all opponents, Bumrah’s overall bowling record against New Zealand is quite poor (average 45.44). He would have already gone through these numbers and would know of the scope for improvement.
On the last tour, Indian batting was a letdown, although the bowling attack led by Bumrah and comprising Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma was also underwhelming. On this tour, if Bumrah and Krishna can find peak form in this trial match, they should lead the way with a battery of other options to choose from. They include Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep as weill as Anshul Kamboj, who showed promise that he belongs at the Test level, during the white-ball series.
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