'I am exhausted, will bowl bit slowly': Former coach reveals Bumrah's unusual request

India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been out of the International cricket circuit for a long time due to injury and is still battling out in the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru to recover. Former India fielding coach R Sridhar has revealed in his book an unknown incident from the 2019 Australia tour. 

R Sridhar in his book has revealed how after picking a fifer in Melbourne, Bumrah and Team India headed over to Sydney to wrap up the series with a win. Sydney is very slow in nature and does not have much for the fast bowlers. Due to the nature of the pitch Bumrah deliberately wanted to bowl slow in the match and went to bowling coach Bharat Arun to talk regarding the same. 

Bumrah said: 'I'll bowl a little slowly'

R Sridhar in his 'COACHING BEYOND: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team' wrote, "'I am very jaded, Sir, physically exhausted and mentally drained,' he went on. 'That's where I am at, personally. There's nothing at stake so far as the series is concerned. The track is docile. It's more or less certain that this game will end in a draw?' After this elaborate build-up, the coin finally dropped. 'So what I will do, Sir, is I'll bowl a little slowly. I won't go flat out. I'll bowl well within myself and take out this Test.'"

R Sridhar quoted in the book 

"'The first option is what you are saying,' Arun pointed 'You can take it easy and bowl well within yourself. You can bowl at 130-32 kmph, just finish playing this Test, then fly back home to recover and get ready for the World Cup. But in doing so, what may happen is you may end up giving the batter the confidence that he has played you well. You have bowled slowly; you have bowled within yourself; you have controlled your pace because you didn't want to exert your body and mind. But the batter doesn't know that. So, if you bowl like that and if a player like Shaun Marsh or Marnus Labuschagne plays you out, he will actually get the confidence to do it again. He's going to go one- up over you. So, tomorrow, in another match, even when you are bowling flat out, he will think, "I have played him well, I have that mental edge over him." That will give him the confidence to play you better even if you're bowling at your best. He will get accustomed to you", Sridhar added.

With the World Cup just 5 months away Team India would want Jasprit Bumrah to be extremely fit for the tournament and they will not take any chances against his fitness.