What has been happening for the last several years has happened once again. Once 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. Kyle Jamieson did this in 2020 and now in 2024, William O'Rourke became the bowler to do so. This tall fast bowler played an important role in giving Team India continuous shocks in the first innings of the first Test match being played in Bengaluru and getting them out for just 46 runs. 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 created by this bowler in Bengaluru. This fast bowler, who is about 6 feet 4 inches tall, 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 speed, seam, and bounce. First, he continuously bowled good length balls outside the off stump, which Kohli left or defended easily. Then when the iron was hot, O'Rourke struck the hammer. He bowled a fast short-length ball, which pitched and came rapidly towards Kohli's body, which shocked the Indian batsman and in an attempt 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 Jaspreet Bumrah. Overall, O'Rourke, who bowled 6 maidens in 12 overs, took 4 wickets for just 22 runs. He missed out on taking 5 wickets but this was enough to show his impact.
O'Rourke's own hard work and talent have contributed a lot to this, but the truth is that cricket, especially fast bowling, runs in his blood. Will's father and his uncle have also played first-class cricket in New Zealand in their time. His father Patrick O'Rourke was a fast bowler in the Wellington team and was also active in New Zealand's domestic cricket from 1989 to 1993.
O'Rourke is originally from New Zealand but he was not born in his country, rather his birthplace was some other country. Due to not being able to make a career in cricket, O'Rourke's parents moved to Britain and Will was born here in 2001. After living in London for about 5 years, Will left Britain with his parents and returned to New Zealand. Here he slowly followed his father's path and focused on cricket. He was also a part of the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, where Yashasvi Jaiswal was also included from Team India.
William's domestic List-A and first-class career started 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 Canterbury fast bowler Kyle Jamieson. If O'Rourke is 6 feet 4 inches, then Jamieson is 6 feet 8 inches. In such a situation, Jamieson helped William a lot with how to bowl strongly while taking advantage of his height. After impressing in domestic cricket, O'Rourke got a chance to make his ODI debut for New Zealand in December 2023, Test in February 2024, and T20 debut in April. In his very first Test, he took 9 wickets in both innings against South Africa, which is a record in New Zealand's history. Before coming to India, William had also taken 5 wickets in an innings in Sri Lanka.
