Exclusive: Jason Gillespie explains what makes Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins so special, and why reverse swing will be key with Kookaburra ball | Cricket News

Ahead of India’s five-match Test tour of Australia, which starts on November 22 at Perth, former Australian bowler and currently Pakan’s interim head coach Jason Gillespie discussed the ideal bowling lengths in Australia and the difference between Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah. Gillespie also gave his insights on bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, R Ashwin and Nathan Lyon and broke down what makes them tick ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Excerpts:
What makes Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins so special and what are the differences?
Jason Gillespie: Their major strength is they are pretty relentless in attacking the batters. They have a good pace, bowl challenging lines and lengths. They are always asking questions about batsmen’s technique. They are always making sure that the batsman has to make good decisions or they will get themselves out. So… they are relentless with their accuracy and discipline but they also can bowl those unplayable deliveries. Whether it swings really late or it just has that extra half-yard of pace or it just does something off the surface which not a lot of bowlers have. They just have a knack for creating a wicket when there doesn’t seem to be a wicket. They just create opportunities seemingly out of nowhere.
They are also slightly different bowlers in different roles, Bumrah takes the new ball and Cummins more often than not comes the first change for Australia.
What do you mean these two bowlers ‘letting batters make the decision’?
Jason Gillespie: The batsmen have to make a good decision every time they face Bumrah and Cummins. They always seem to challenge the batsman’s technique. You don’t just see them bowl well outside off-stump or bouncers that go well over the head or balls that go down the leg side. They seem to be on and around that off-stump consently. The batsmen have to either defend off the front foot or the back foot or leave it off the front or back foot. You don’t see them getting cut or pulled or driven very often. It is because they are so ruthless with their accuracy that those bad balls are few and far between.
In India, we use SG balls where the seam stays prominent for longer but with Kookaburra ball the seam flattens 30-35 overs; what options do you think fast bowlers have to pick wickets after that?
Jason Gillespie: Reverse-swing will come into it. A lot of it depends on the surroundings. It gets harder and harder in Australia, especially with drop-in pitches and the surroundings are much more lush and green. You don’t have as many of the used surfaces or pitches from previous games and training as you get in the other parts of the world. I think it’s a matter of being disciplined and looking after the ball, finding a way especially to deteriorate one side of the ball naturally but you want it to deteriorate quickly. And you want to maintain that shine on the other side and make it the best possible way of ball reverse swinging.
What are the ideal lines and lengths to bowl as a fast bowler in Australia?
Jason Gillespie: In Australia because of the bounce bowlers can fall into the trap of bowling too short at times. I have always used the general rule of thumb that if the ball is going past the stumps on or just below the bails that indicates that you are hitting a pretty good length. If it is going a foot over the stumps height-wise it is probably telling you, you are bowling a fraction too short. And conversely if the ball is only getting to the batter below the knee-roll it’s probably a drive-ball and it is a fraction full. I think the ideal length to bowl in Australia is that top of the off-stump, around the bails.
Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have been playing for a very long time and have won everything; what makes them tick?
Jason Gillespie: They are the three of the greatest bowlers to have ever played for Australia and we are blessed to have three of them in one side at the same time, along with Nathan Lyon. This is a pretty special group of Australian cricketers and all these will go down as absolute legends of the game all around the world. We have all been very fortunate to watch them play.
Each brings something slightly different which I think is good and a testament to their robustness and fitness. They can stay on the park consently and I think the Australian hierarchy, coaching team and selection team too has to take some credit for identifying periods when they can rest these guys and play them when they want them to play.
You were referring to three of them being different, can you elaborate?
Jason Gillespie: Starc is a left-armer who slings the ball and gets swing and reverse swing. Hazlewood looks to hit the pitch hard and maybe get a bit of away movement from the right-handers. Cummins tends to angle the ball into the right-handers and angle the ball across the left-handers. They are the main differences; they all bowl at a very good pace and are all very tall. They all have slightly different trajectories and they create difficult situations for the opposite batters.
Height always helps particularly in Australia. A little bit of extra bite and bounce of the surface helps. It’s not the only thing but it certainly helps for sure.
Apart from Bumrah, who do you think is the bowler who can do well for India?
Jason Gillespie: Mohammed Siraj is a nice bowler, he bowled some pretty good spells the last time he was here. But I still think the key bowler for India is Bumrah.
You have mentioned Nathan Lyon, it is hard enough being a finger spinner in Australia but what do you think is the main reason behind his success in the long term?
Jason Gillespie: I think Nathan Lyon mixes up his pace very well. He gets a good bounce and gets the ball to over-spin. A lot of spinners from the sub-continent bowl with a lot of side-spin; Nathan bowls with a lot more over-spin and gets bounce, some drop and makes it a little bit more difficult for batsman to pick the length he is bowling. That’s where he creates opportunities for bat-pads and edges to slip and like.
R Ashwin has done well in the last couple of tours; what do you think he has been doing right?
Jason Gillespie: He is a fine bowler. He is very experienced, mixes up his pace very well; he comes over and around the wicket. He bowls plenty of overs, is very patient and he is a very accurate spinner.
What can we expect from the pitch in Optus stadium in Perth, venue for the first Test, as it seems pretty different from the old WACA?
Jason Gillespie: It is a relatively fast bouncy track. Not quite the same as the old WACA. It will have some bounce and carry through it is a pretty good surface. It might challenge the batters early but it will play pretty well.