Top News

South African fast bowler Marco Jansen revealed that he studied India’s Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling replays from the first Test match in Kolkata last year and attempted to emulate his technique. Jansen explained that he tried Bumrah’s approach during warm-up matches at the ongoing T20 World Cup and noticed the ball moving sharply off the pitch.

“In the first Test match [in Kolkata], I looked at [Jasprit Bumrah], at the replays of his wickets, and I saw from his hand and the ball that there were so many revs on the ball. I figured, let me just try and emulate what he’s doing,” Jansen told ESPNcricinfo. “So in the warm-up, I did it, and it looked like something was happening. It seemed like the ball was actually moving off the wicket, and it was like that sharp, quick movement. Then I tried it in the match, and I took two wickets quickly, and I just sort of stuck with it and went with it.”

Jansen made these remarks ahead of South Africa’s semi-final match against New Zealand at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, the same venue where he observed and adopted Bumrah’s bowling style.

South Africa and New Zealand took different routes to reach the semi-finals. Jansen has had a strong tournament with the ball, claiming 11 wickets in five matches at an average of 16.72.

South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Jason Smith.

New Zealand squad: Tim Seifert (w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway.