India, July 2 -- Bumrah is so far ahead of the rest in his thinking, and in the execution of his wondrous skills, that he makes the others, especially his pace colleagues, look pedestrian. In India, Bumrah hasn't been as much of a threat as overseas (we are only talking minuscule degrees). At various stages, the now retired R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar have individually or collectively pulled their weight, capitalising on even the slightest of assistance from tracks on which they have learnt their craft.

It's away from the subcontinent, where spin often has a minor to negligible influence, that Bumrah's potency becomes pronounced and irreplaceable. The 30-year-old shades not just his own tea...