India's new 'King of Death' Jasprit Bumrah has done enough to gain confidence of his skipper Virat Kohli, who in turn has given him freedom to express himself.
"It feels good that the captain has so much of confidence in you that he gives you freedom to do whatever you want," man-of-the-match Bumrah said at a mixed zone interaction after team's win against South Africa. "When this happens, a youngster like me can express himself and show what he is capable of."
With ability to bowl yorkers at will during slog overs, Bumrah is Kohli's 'go to man' at the death. A tournament economy rate of 4.77 for someone who bowls bulk of his overs in slog overs is commendable.
But Bumrah is against being labelled as slog overs specialist.
"You know, we don't focus on these things. You can't just be labelled as 'death bowler' or a swing bowler (in case of Bhuvneshwar Kumar), whenever you are given the ball, you have to contribute. You bowl according to situations - whether at the death or at the beginning. The aim is to stick to a plan and execute it," said Bumrah.
Touring England for the first time, Bumrah has been picking Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kohli's brains.
"I take inputs from our senior bowlers who have played a lot in these conditions. Our coach (Anil Kumble), Mahi Bhai (MS Dhoni), Virat gives us tips on what are the conditions, discuss plans. It's of great help," Bumrah said.
Had to alter length: Bhuvi
It is inexplicable when a white ball refuses to offer swing for seamers in English conditions and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has altered his strategy after failing to understand why this is happening during the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.
Bhuvneshwar has bowled 22.3 overs across three games taking four wickets for 100 runs at a very decent economy rate of 4.44, given the field restrictions in Powerplays are loaded heavily in favour of batsmen.
"It's very difficult to point out why the ball is not swinging in England. The wickets are not generally this hard in England during this time of the year. During the Champions Trophy in 2013 and the next year during Test series, wickets were soft.
"Not very soft that batsmen would encounter problems but soft enough for some deviation," Bhuvneshwar told mediapersons at the mixed zone after India reached the semi-finals.