'Are you interested?' - Jasprit Bumrah reveals how he was signed by the Mumbai Indians franchise

Jasprit Bumrah has emerged as the lynchpin of the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) bowling attack in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The right-arm pacer is blessed with an uncanny action and is a bowler who can bowl pinpoint yorkers as well as well directed bouncers that can flummox batsmen.

And now, Bumrah has opened up on how he was spotted by the talent scout of the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise, John Wright. Bumrah stated that Wright had come to watch a domestic T20 match between Mumbai and Gujarat, and Bumrah did not pick a lot of wickets in that match.

Bumrah added that Wright then came to see him for one more match, and even enquired about Bumrah as well. The Mumbai Indians’ bowling spearhead revealed that he then received a call from the Mumbai Indians asking him whether he would like to join them.

“I was just selected for the T20 competition, and that was just my second game and it was against Mumbai. So, John Wright had come to watch Akshar. I didn’t know I would get picked. I didn’t pick a lot of wickets, I just picked one but I bowled really well, I didn’t give a lot of runs.

“So, he came to watch one more game. He enquired and PP (Parthiv Patel) told me that he was asking about me. I thought he was clearly joking and making fun of me. After a few days, I got a call from the Mumbai Indians and they asked me, ‘Are you interested?’ I said, ‘Of course, I am interested, that’s not even a question. Are you guys interested?’” said Bumrah in a chat with Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports.

Jasprit Bumrah opens up on his partnership with Lasith Malinga

Jasprit Bumrah further stated that he developed an interesting partnership with Sri Lankan pace bowling legend Lasith Malinga, who was also a part of the Mumbai side. Bumrah said that Malinga was of the opinion that the Indian pacer had the potential to do well with the ball in hand.

“I had an interesting partnership with Malinga. He usually doesn’t talk a lot but he came up to me on his own and said, ‘I saw your bowling in the last game and I feel you can really do well.’ I connected with him on that level and he told me that you have got a lot of things to offer,” said Bumrah.

Bumrah further added that his partnership with Malinga has been good, and he is still in touch with the Sri Lankan bowler. Bumrah concluded by adding that he learnt a lot from Malinga.

“Since then the partnership has been good. He still talks to me, even during those phases when I was really eager to play international cricket. He taught me a lot of things. He said that hard times will come and before playing international cricket, you need to see everything,” concluded Bumrah.