NASSER HUSSAIN: These are the mind-bending tricks that make Jasprit Bumrah so devastating - and how England can fight back against India superstar

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the most unorthodox fast bowlers you’ll ever see.

He has a deceptively stuttering run-up, and delivers the ball from closer to the batsman than other bowlers because of the hyperextension in his elbow. But unorthodoxy alone doesn’t get you more than 200 Test wickets at an average of 19.

It’s a combination of his talent, skill and unorthodoxy that makes him so difficult to play. He’s deadly accurate – his economy rate in Tests is 2.76 – and he has a superb wrist position. He can bowl an inswinging yorker or a bouncer with no discernible change in action. He’s the complete package.

Australia found that out over the winter when he picked up 32 wickets in five Tests at an average of 13, and was one of the drawcards of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And it’s going to be fascinating to see how England tackle him this summer.

One of the problems batters face against Bumrah is the question of when to get into your trigger movements at the crease. Most bowlers have a smooth, conventional approach, so you know what’s coming, and when to get ready.

But Bumrah almost stutters in at you off a few paces. It can scramble the brain. Is he coming? What’s he doing? Is that a medium-pace dobber? No, it’s a 90mph thunderbolt…

I can remember Ben Stokes being done for pace from round the wicket when it seemed like the ball had kept low. In fact, it had just come on to him quicker than he realised.

You look up at the speedgun, and it won’t be in the category of Mark Wood or Jofra Archer, but there’s a difference between that measurement and what you feel in the middle. Somehow, you just know he’s faster than the speedgun is suggesting. You always feel a bit hurried.

And because he lets go of the ball that little bit later, and his elbow hyperextends, it’s as if he’s delivering from about 19 yards, not 21 or 22. So there’s even less time to adjust.

On top of all that, there’s the angle he creates because his arm goes past the perpendicular – a bit like Courtney Walsh used to do for West Indies and Stokes does now.

You feel you have to play at the ball, only for it to leave you off the seam and catch the edge. Bumrah has dismissed Joe Root like that a couple of times, where Root has waited for the ball to come in, only to find himself following one that goes the other way. As a batter, you can tell yourself not to follow him, but you also need to protect against the ball that comes in. It must be a nightmare to face.

Bumrah has a wonderful bouncer. And, as Ollie Pope found out in that Test at Visakhapatnam last year, when only one stump was left standing, he’s got a wonderful yorker. The photo of that moment, with Pope’s body shape all over the place as he tried to jam down on the delivery, summed up Bumrah’s magic.

Then there’s his beautiful slower ball, especially to lower-order batters who are trying to go hard at him. The ball dips late, and can make a fool of you.

It all adds up to a seriously good bowler, and helps explain why no one in Bumrah’s 45-Test career has scored more than 50 runs against him without being dismissed. 

Root has the most runs against him (286), but he’s also faced the most balls (559) and been dismissed nine times. Only Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have taken Root’s wicket more often, and they’ve played a few more Tests against him than Bumrah.

The one factor in England’s favour is his fitness, and India have already talked about playing him in only three of the five Tests. This is where England may need to be smart.

As we know, their Bazballers score so quickly that they sometimes don’t give their own bowlers time to rest. Also, it means you don’t wear down the opposition bowlers as much. But England have to try and keep Bumrah in the field for as long as possible, and force him back for a third and fourth spell.

We saw during the World Test Championship final at Lord’s last week how guys with the pace of Kagiso Rabada were coming back for their third spell and how difficult that can be when you haven’t played first-class cricket for a while, like Bumrah.

And with no Mohammed Shami on this trip, England will have run-scoring opportunities once they’ve seen off Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

But how do they deal with Bumrah in the first place? The key will be not getting scrambled by all the factors we’ve mentioned – the run-up, the angle, the fact that he feels quicker than he actually is.

Look at all the great batters at the moment the ball is released, and almost all of them are telling themselves to watch the ball. In the end, that’s what you’re facing – not the bloke who’s sending it down.

We used to have the same issue with Shane Warne. If you focus on the fact that one of the legends of the game is trying to get inside your head, then you’ve got no chance. If you play the ball, not the man, you’re already better placed.

None of this guarantees anything, of course. The great fast bowlers can hit you on the head or on the foot before you know it, and they can locate the top of off-stump whenever they want.

And that’s what Test cricket is supposed to be: a challenge against the best, with two big teams fighting it out in an iconic series. Bumrah is in my top three or four all-format bowlers, along with Hazlewood, Rabada and Pat Cummins. He’s that good.

But, like every bowler, he can be played, and how England play him could determine the fate of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

My prediction: England have a very good record at home, and India will miss the runs and experience of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. It’s a hard one to call, but I think home advantage will swing it to England, and I’m going for 3-1.