Another Jasprit Bumrah in making in IPL? Mahesh Kumar's old bowling clip takes internet by storm

Mahesh Kumar’s

Unique bowling actions have always caught the attention of world cricket and it was the same when Jasprit Bumrah burst into the scene in Indian Premier League (IPL) 11 years back in Mumbai Indians colours. But while the talk initially was entirely around his unorthodox sling arm action, Bumrah was quick to change the narrative in his bowling skills as he left world cricket in awe with his ability to bowl yorkers at will.

On Monday, amid the talk in Indian cricket fraternity around the T20 World Cup squad announcement and the meeting between BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India captain Rohit Sharma, a video went viral on social media which showed another bowler with the exact same bowling action of Bumrah in IPL nets.

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It turned out to be a two-year-old clip with the bowler, named Mahesh Kumar in the net of Gujarat Titans where is seen executing the same action of Bumrah – almost 14 steps and that slingshot arm – bowling a yorker and then a length ball that beat the batter.

The 27-year-old from Karnataka has previously served as a net bowler for Royal Challengers Bengaluru back in 2018 and also bowled at the Team India nets in 2017. The engineering graduate was, in fact, called to the nets by Ashish Nehra, who later gifted him a pair of shoes. He also got a chance to speak with Virat Kohli, who advised him “to stick to my strengths and not copy anyone,” as told to Sportstar.

Bumrah, meanwhile, has been having a fabulous season so far in IPL 2024, where he is the leading wicket-taker, with 14 scalps in nine games at an economy rate of just 6.63. He also picked up a five-wicket haul in this tournament after finishing with 5 for 21 in a match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Wankhede Stadium earlier this month. The Mumbai Indians star became the first bowler in IPL history to pick a fifer against RCB. Overall, it was his second five-wicket haul in IPL, having picked his first against KKR in 2022.

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