The demon fast bowler – whose nerveless “super over” won the nation the trophy for the first time – was born with under-developed hand muscles which made his fingers weak.
His chances of succeeding at any sport were slim, according to dad Frank. Doctors ordered the youngster to play video games to boost the power in his digits.
It paid off when he fired in yorker-after-yorker to help England edge out New Zealand in Sunday’s six-ball shootout.
Frank reckons all the hours his son put in zapping on-screen aliens as a nipper helped turn him into a champion.
“Jofra almost didn’t have a cricket career,” he said. “He has weak fingers as his muscles were undeveloped when he was born.
“So the doctors told us to get him to play video games to get his fingers working properly. After that I had a sense it was going to happen.”
Jofra’s video game practice was the idea of medics in cricket-mad Barbados where he was born.
His grandad made him a mini-bat from a 2in post when he was two in a further bid to boost the power in his hands.
He started playing the game properly at four and was soon bowling out much older batsmen.
Jofra, 24, also had the chance to become a footballer.
But Brit-born Frank, 55, a retired London Underground worker, said he ‘couldn’t afford football boots for him’ when he was younger.
“He was always a cricketing fanatic,” he said.
“It has been his dream to play for England ever since he was eight-years-old so to see it happen is unreal.
“Him winning the match is actually something you could make a film about.”
