Willow Talk

Mike Hussey Reveals The Time He Had To Have A “Stern Word” With Jasprit Bumrah

Mike Hussey has revealed on Willow Talk that he once had to have a “stern word” with Jasprit Bumrah after the Indian quick dished out a send-off.

WHEN MIKE HUSSEY HAD A STERN WORD WITH JASPRIT BUMRAH:

“I actually played a year with him (Bumrah) in the IPL,” Hussey said.

“I had one year at the Mumbai Indians and he was this young kid coming through… in one of his early games he got AB de Villiers out, obviously a great of the game, and he gave him this big send off.

“And AB de Villiers wasn’t too happy about it, he sort of stared him down, and I remember just pulling Bumrah aside and just saying ‘Mate, you don’t need to do that’,”

“You’ve got that much skill, that much talent, getting the wicket is enough.

“That’s the biggest sledge I guess you can give — you don’t need to be giving sendoffs.”

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Hussey also spoke about what it was like to face Bumrah in the nets in that IPL season.

“[I] literally could not get bat on it, I felt like I was using a toothpick,” Hussey said.

“I just remember thinking I can’t see the ball, I can’t even pick it up out of his hand.

“His action’s so unique…. I didn’t think he was actually going to get to the crease,” Hussey laughed about Bumrah’s peculiar run up.

“The way he was just sort of like staggering his run, I thought, what is going on here? Who the heck is this guy?

“And then sure enough, whoosh, this ball whistled past my eyebrows at 145ks an hour. I was like, ‘Oh, heck, better have a closer look at this guy’.”

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Hussey also said he always thought Bumrah could transition from white ball cricket to the test arena easily.

“In India, initially, all this talk was about ‘oh, he’s only gonna be able to play white ball cricket’,” he said.

“With that action, that run up, it’s too much pressure on the body, he can’t play test cricket.

“I always thought nah, he’s got the skills and the ability, and if he had the desire to play test cricket he could.

“And wow, isn’t he doing it bloody well at the moment?”

Hussey was also full of praise for Bumrah’s attitude and demeanour after the very early incident with de Villiers.

“He’s such a humble, down to earth guy,” Hussey said.

I love watching how he goes about it and he’s always got a smile on his face, he’s always so calm,”

“He’s consistent with his character, he doesn’t get too emotional… and he’s obviously a great talent.”

Mike Hussey also discussed surviving a brutal Dale Steyn bouncer attack, how he earned Ricky Ponting’s respect, who he thinks should be the next full time singer of the Australian victory song and more.