We’ve all had those moments—trying something we aren’t supposed to be good at and somehow nailing it. Maybe you aced a dance-off at a party despite having two left feet. Or maybe, like Jasprit Bumrah, you turned the game upside down when no one expected it.
In July 2022, during a tense Test match at Edgbaston, India found themselves in a tricky position. Bumrah walked in at No. 10, his primary job to survive a few balls. Facing him was England’s Stuart Broad, a seasoned pacer with over 500 Test wickets. On paper, it was a mismatch—one of the world’s best bowlers against a tailender. But cricket, like life, is full of surprises.
What followed was absolute carnage. Bumrah, known for rattling stumps with his fiery yorkers, suddenly became an unstoppable force with the bat. He swung at everything, and everything connected—some intentionally, some by sheer luck. The first ball raced to the boundary. Then came an outrageous hook for six. Broad, rattled, overstepped, gifting Bumrah a free hit. Another six. Then a four. Then another. Wides, no-balls, and misfields only added to the chaos. By the time the over ended, the scoreboard had jumped by 35 runs—the most ever scored in a single over in Test cricket.
The crowd at Edgbaston erupted. The commentators couldn’t stop laughing. Even Virat Kohli, watching from the dressing room, had his hands on his head in disbelief. And Broad? He had déjà vu. Over a decade earlier, he was the unfortunate bowler who had been taken for six sixes by Yuvraj Singh in a T20 match. Now, history had repeated itself—only this time, from the unlikeliest of batsmen.
Bumrah’s blitz wasn’t just about records; it was a reminder of cricket’s unpredictable magic. It was a moment that made every tailender believe they, too, could be a hero. After all, sometimes the best stories are written by the most unexpected characters.
