What has been happening for the last several years has happened once again. Again a new player wreaked havoc in the very first match against Team India. Just 4 years later, another fast bowler from New Zealand destroyed Team India's batting order. This work was done by Kyle Jamieson in 2020 and now William O'Rourke became the bowler to do this in 2024. This tall fast bowler played an important role in getting Team India out for just 46 runs by giving continuous blows in the first innings in the first Test match being played in Bengaluru. In this too, the most special wicket proved to be that of star batsman Virat Kohli, who was out in the very first over of O'Rourke. So who is this 23 year old bowler? How did his cricket career start?
First let us tell you about the havoc wreaked by this bowler in Bengaluru. This 6 feet 4 inches tall fast bowler made his debut in international cricket this year and this is his first match in India. In his very first over, this pacer trapped Virat Kohli in the web of pace, seam and bounce. He first continuously bowled the ball at good length outside the off stump, which Kohli left or defended easily. Then when the iron was hot, O'Rourke took the hammer. He bowled a sharp short of length ball, which pitched rapidly towards Kohli's body, due to which the Indian batsman was shocked and while trying to defend, the ball hit the gloves and went into the hands of the leg slip fielder.
After taking the wicket of a legend like Kohli in the very first over, O'Rourke also took the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and then Jasprit Bumrah. Overall, O'Rourke, who took 6 maidens in 12 overs, took 4 wickets for just 22 runs. He missed taking 5 wickets but it was enough to show his impact.
O'Rourke's own hard work and talent have a big contribution in this but the truth is also that cricket, especially fast bowling, flows in his blood. Will's father and his uncle have also played first class cricket in New Zealand during their time. In this too, his father Patrick O'Rourke was a fast bowler in the Wellington team and was also active in New Zealand domestic cricket from 1989 to 1993.
O'Rourke is originally from New Zealand but he was not born in his own country, rather his birthplace was some other country. O'Rourke's parents went to Britain due to their failure to make a career in cricket and it was here in 2001 that Will was born. After living in London for about 5 years, Will left Britain with his parents and returned back to New Zealand. Here again he gradually followed his father's path and concentrated on cricket. He was also a part of the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, where Yashasvi Jaiswal was also included on behalf of Team India.
William's domestic List-A and first-class career began with Canterbury in 2021. After impressing in T20 and List-A cricket, this young bowler also showed his strength in first class cricket. It was here that he got a chance to bowl with his fellow fast bowler Kyle Jamieson from Canterbury. If O'Rourke is 6 feet 4 inches tall then Jamieson is 6 feet 8 inches tall. In such a situation, Jamieson helped William a lot in how to bowl powerfully while taking advantage of his height. After impressing in the domestic, O'Rourke got a chance to make his ODI debut for New Zealand in December 2023, Test in February 2024 and T20 in April. In his very first Test, he took 9 wickets in both the innings against South Africa, which is a record in the history of New Zealand. Before coming to India, William had also taken 5 wickets in an innings in Sri Lanka.
