On April 4, 2013, a 19-year-old rookie fast bowler announced his arrival in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. And in four years time, he is now one of India's best limited-overs pacemen.
The youngster, like many, who used IPL as a launching pad to enter international cricket, is Jasprit Bumrah.
His first ball in IPL was dispatched for a boundary by Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers (RCB) captain. The same was repeated next ball.
Also read: Bumrah on his Test dream
After a dot ball, Kohli did it again. But Bumrah had his revenge on the fifth ball, after three fours in four deliveries. The Mumbai Indians (MI) right-armer trapped Kohli LBW and could not hide his joy.
"He had hit me for three boundaries in that over and so I was angry. I am always like this on the field," Bumrah had told IPL's website back then, after the match.
That night, Bumrah took 3/32 in 4 overs in a losing cause where RCB held their nerve to eke out a two-run win, defending 156.
From then on, Bumrah has been a special bowler for MI in IPL. He has mastered the art of bowling yorkers, just like his mentor Lasith Malinga.
Sri Lanka's Malinga, team-mate of Bumrah at MI, taught the youngster the tricks of consistently hitting the blockhole. His unusual bowling action also made it difficult for the batsmen to pick him.
It was former India coach John Wright who was instrumental in bringing Bumrah to MI. The New Zealander was then the MI coach and had spotted Bumrah during Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament, playing for Gujarat.
After IPL success, Bumrah had to wait nearly three years to make his international debut, on January 23, 2016, against Australia in Sydney.
Now, having played 27 ODIs and same number of T20Is, Bumrah has formed a potent new ball combination with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar are the best fast bowlers in India's limited-overs side. It is hard to look beyond them at the moment.
The 23-year-old Bumrah, though, will not be happy plying his trade only in 50 and 20-over cricket. Like any cricketer, he too dreams of wearing India Test cap.
"It's always a dream (to play Test cricket). Hopefully when I get my chance, I would want to do well," Bumrah had said last month after bagging the Man-of-the-series award in Sri Lanka where India whitewashed the home team 5-0.
Bumrah set a world record (for a fast bowler in bilateral series of five or less ODIs) in Sri Lanka with 15 scalps in the ODI rubber.
The latest of Bumrah's success story was in Pune on Wednesday (October 25) when he and Bhuvneshwar restricted New Zealand to 230 and India won to level the three-match series. The decider is in Kanpur on Sunday (October 29).
The Indian selectors have already picked the Test team for Sri Lanka series. However, they failed to include Bumrah for the opening two contests.
The MSK Prasad-led selection panel should pick Bumrah for the third Test and groom him for next year's gruelling tours to South Africa and England.
With India set to play three Tests in South Africa in January 2018, now is the time to hand Bumrah the Test cap. He can be a good option for the Kohli-led team.
Even if the selectors don't call up Bumrah for Sri Lanka Test, he should definitely be on the flight to South Africa as a back-up seamer. And he needs skipper Kohli's backing too.
It is always better to pick players who are in form. And Bumrah is in top form. He has it in him to replicate limited-overs success in the five-day format.
