In an Instagram live chat with Yuvraj Singh on Sunday, India pacer Jasprit Bumrah reflected on the challenges he had to face as he climbed through the ranks in domestic cricket.
“Many people told me that I won’t play for long, there was a notion that the last person to play for the country would be me,” said Bumrah when Singh asked him about his unorthodox bowling action.
“They told me that I would just play the Ranji Trophy. But I kept on improving and I persisted with my action,” said the 26-year-old, who made his international debut in January 2016.
Bumrah has gone on to play 64 ODIs, 50 T20s and 14 Tests. He made his Test debut in January 2018 and in quick time, he became skipper Virat Kohli’s strike bowler even in the five-day format.
During the chat, Singh reminded Bumrah that he had predicted that the pacer would go on to become the “No 1 bowler in the world”. And he did in 2017 when he reached the spot in the T20 rankings.
Singh, meanwhile, shared his views on how current cricketers behave on social media these days.
“I feel they try too hard. They become what they are not when they are on social media,” Yuvraj said.
The 38-year-old said that players sometimes lose their decency when on social media.
Singh added: “I have seen many players who are otherwise very decent but on social media they become something else.”
Bumrah agreed with Singh and said that the younger players tend to get carried away. “I have seen youngsters seek validation on social media. That people say they are good. People’s opinion should not change perception and it should not matter. You need to have confidence in yourself,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)