Former England captain Alastair Cook said that Jasprit Bumrah broke the back of England’s batting unit on day 2 of the 2nd Test in Vishakhapatnam. The veteran also added that Zak Crawley’s wicket for 76 was the turning point of their first innings as well. With Joe Root coming into the crease after Crawley’s dismissal, Indian captain Rohit Sharma brought Jasprit Bumrah back for a spell and he nipped out Root, Ollie Pope, and Jonny Bairstow in a stunning spell to bring India back into the contest. Bumrah later dismissed Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley, and James Anderson to finish with six scalps as well.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Cook said: “Bumrah has carried India through today and has single-handedly changed the course of this game. England’s batting card started so well with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, who played beautifully for 76. His wicket, the first time he came down the wicket and tried to hit leg-side – getting a leading edge – that was the changing point. Bumrah jumped in and ripped the heart out of the England batting line-up. Root was first to go, Pope to an unplayable in-swinging yorker, Bairstow and Stokes too falling to Bumrah. He has changed the game.”

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However, the dismissal of Ben Stokes also marked Bumrah’s 150th scalp in Test cricket. The veteran became the fastest Indian pacer to reach the feat and the second-fastest Asian to accomplish it as well. However, Cook also believes England’s total of 253 is a massively under-par score as well.

“253 all out is well below par. England have let an opportunity slip from 110-1, but I actually think that at some stage you have to doff your cap to the opposition,” Jasprit Bumrah concluded. “I’ve faced Bumrah a number of times, but I don’t think I’ve ever faced him bowling as well as that. His awkwardness, his different angles, he creates a different vision for the batter and it makes him sometimes unplayable.”