England wanted to send India packing quickly on Saturday morning with not too many runs on board. But stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah had other designs when he sent Stuart Broad on a leather hunt – belting 35 runs in a single over. It was the most expensive over in Test cricket history. Of those runs, 29 were attributed to Bumrah while six more came as extras. What added to the ignominy was that Bumrah bats at no 10, who swung his bat at anything that came his way.
With this, he has surpassed legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara, who hit South Africa's Robin Peterson for 28 in an over in 2003. Trailing Lara are former Australian batter George Bailey, who hit England pacer James Anderson for 28 in 2013 and South African spinner Keshav Maharaj, who torched England's Joe Root for 28 runs in 2020. Broad -- no mean seamer who has 550 Test wickets to his name -- ended up bowling an eight-ball over and surely the worst of his illustrious England career.
The fireworks started with Bumrah's mistimed hook that went for a boundary, and in frustration, Broad bowled a bouncer that went for five wides. The next ball was again dug in short and another top-edge got Bumrah seven runs, including a no-ball. The next three balls were hit for boundaries in different directions -- one through mid-on, one through fine leg and the last one through mid-wicket. To add insult to his injuries, Bumrah hit a six over deep mid-wicket.
Incidentally, Broad had also been hit for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh in the inaugural World T20 in 2007.
The late blitz and a superb century by Ravindra Jadeja took India to a total of 416 on Day 2 in the first innings of the fifth and final Test against England.
In the second innings, Bumrah also provided an early breakthrough, dismissing opener Alex Lees for just 6 runs by dislodging his stumps. Early lunch was taken with rain interrupting the play.
