“That Perhaps Stoked Anger In Me”: How Family’s Lack Of Belief Motivated A Young Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah, since making his international debut in a T20I series in Australia in early 2016, has gone on to become the leader of India’s pace attack across all formats. With his unorthodox action, Bumrah has only grown in skill and stature, adding new tricks to his repertoire. Rising to prominence with his yorker, Bumrah has also developed a mean yorker as well as the ability to swing the ball both ways. But what pushed him as a youngster to go on to become on of the world’s best pacers?

The 28-year-old revealed that his family, while never forcing any decision upon him, did not “understand” cricket and did not see it as a viable profession, a fact that pushed him to show what he could do.

“There were other sports that I played for fun, but it was always cricket for me. I was very clear about what I wanted to do,” Bumrah said in an interview with Jamie Alter for GQ India.

“My family was not able to understand that playing cricket professionally was a viable career path because my family was academically inclined, but it was always about cricket for me,” he said.

“My mother was never firm in saying to me, ‘This is what you have to do’, but she did want me to have a career that would give me security. But that’s about it. She did not force anything on me, never told me I had to become a doctor or  engineer,” he clarified.

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“My family didn’t understand cricket and they didn’t have a lot of belief in what I was doing. That perhaps stoked anger inside me, a feeling of ‘I’m going to show the world what I can do!'” Bumrah went on to say.

In a massive blow for India, Bumrah has suffered a back injury shortly before the start of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where the pacer was expected to play a key role for the Rohit Sharma-led side.