Why Jasprit Bumrah was not taken out of the attack despite bowling a flurry of beamers

What‘s the story?

Even as the Indian bowlers were getting hammered to all parts of the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, the first part of the opening ODI against England contained a rather interesting incident.

Jasprit Bumrah had a torrid time with the ball and sent down a flurry of beamers at various stages of the innings. However, the on-field umpire did not see the need to take him out of the attack. Despite some grumbling from the visiting batsmen, they refused to budge.

According to the rules, a bowler has to be removed from arena if he delivers more than two beamers. So, why did the 23-year old seamer get away with it? Read on and find out how the grey area in the regulations came to his rescue.

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Bumrah delivered a high full toss came in the 12^th over when opener Jason Roy was on strike. Despite the ball firing towards him, the aggressive right-hander somehow managed to make contact. However, it was not adjudged as a no-ball.

The fast bowler was at it again in the death overs with the beamers only beginning to escalate. During the 42^nd, 44^th and 46^th overs, he delivered a succession of waist-high full tosses to Ben Stokes. All three were given as no-balls and free-hits ensued. Even though the fiery all-rounder registered his feelings with umpire Kumar Dharmasena, Bumrah was permitted to continue bowling.

The heart of the matter

According to Law 42.6 (b) of the game’s playing conditions, “Any delivery, other than a slow paced one, which passes or would have passed on the full above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker”.

The ensuing Law 42.7 (c) states, “Should there be any further repetition by the same bowler in that innings, the umpire shall call and signal No ball and when the ball is dead direct the captain to suspend the bowler forthwith and inform the other umpire of the reason for this action. The bowler thus suspended shall not be allowed to bowl again in that innings.“

It is explicitly mentioned in the rules that the bowler has to be removed from the attack if he repeats the offence for the third time. But, the grey areas in the regulations leave the on-field umpire to take the final call on whether the ball is indeed dangerous to the batsman or not. In Bumrah’s case, Dharmasena did not deem the beamers to be of any considerable threat to Stokes and hence did not pull him out of the proceedings.

What next?

Bumrah went on to complete the 46^th over in which Stokes brought up his half-century with a massive six. The beamer fever seemed to have caught onto the bowler operating from the other end as well. Umesh Yadav’s waist-high full toss was sent sailing past the cover boundary for another maximum.

Though Bumrah finally got his man in the next over through a well-directed bouncer, England were already on their way to a humongous total.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Although the final decision rests in the umpire’s hands, a lot of it depends on his viewpoint. Bumrah‘s struggles to grip the ball in this match have been well-documented and he can consider himself really lucky to get away with his beamer fiasco.