Jasprit Bumrah has joined the Rishabh Pant-led club of banter and vocal interactions as he has warned Virat Kohli saying that he will destroy the sticks of the Indian captain in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
Bumrah is the second cricketer after Pant to be featured in a promotional video for the IPL. The 25-year-old pacer plies his trade for Mumbai Indians in the franchise league and he has fired shots towards Kohli who is the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In the video, Bumrah can be seen walking on the stands of an empty stadium which has banners of his picture, captioned "World's Best Bowler" as chants after his name was reverberating in the background. Subsequently, Bumrah says he is not yet the best bowler in the world when the camera pans to a banner of Virat Kohli captioned "World's Best Batsman". Referring to his national team captain, Bumrah goes on to say that he will indeed become the best bowler in the world when he dismisses Kohli. The quick bowler also outlined his preferred mode of dismissal – clean bowled.
"Aa raha hoon Cheeku bhaiyya, aur iss baar, aap meri team mein bhi nahi rahenge," Bumrah concluded the video. The approximate translation in English is, "I'm coming Virat brother and this time, you are not going to be my teammate." The video ends with a bemused Kohli staring at a TV screen playing the Bumrah's video.
The World's Best Bowler vs The World's Best Batsman. Who will come out winning? @mipaltan's @Jaspritbumrah93 or @RCBTweets's @imVkohli - Bring it on ?? #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/wFVN9cgptD
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 24, 2019
Earlier, Pant had warned MS Dhoni saying that he will make the CSK captain lose his cool as a captain. That video was also shot in an empty stadium and it started with Pant calling Dhoni his mentor. Pant will be playing for Delhi Capitals in the upcoming edition of the IPL.
Kohli has been public with his appreciation and praise for Bumrah as he the bowler was an integral part of India's success Down Under. Bumrah formed a threatening pace trio along with Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma in Australia, which catapulted India to an unprecedented Test series triumph.
"He has only been playing for 12 months. He is obviously the best bowler in the world, in my opinion, and also a match-winner, without doubt," Kohli had said of Bumrah following the Boxing Day Test match in Sydney where the bowler picked up 9-86. "His positive mindset separates him from the rest."
"I wouldn't want to face Bumrah on a pitch like the one in Perth because if he gets on a roll, he can really crank it up. He realises that he bowls differently than others and that's why he is so confident about his skills."
Kohli and Bumrah will team up against Australia in the second T20I in Bengaluru on February 27 following which they have a five-match ODI series to contend with.