XtraTime Web Desk: The pitch started getting slow when India was bowling and beside that it has been a bit up and down which helped the Indian bowlers a lot. Not only that but the fast bowlers got reverse swing as well and they were thinking of exploiting that well said Jasprit Bumrah who was the hero for the visitors in the first innings as he picked 6 wickets to destroy the Aussie batting lineup.
“When we were bowling, the pitch was playing slow,” he said in the post-day press conference. “The bounce was up and down but mostly it was down. The ball had started reversing.
“When we play in similar conditions back home, it reverses and you try to make the most of it. So we were trying to use our experience in first-class cricket where we have bowled with ball reversing. That was the plan.”
While taking about his rise as a bowler since he made his debut in South Africa earlier in January, Bumrah revealed that he was quite confident of doing well in the longest format of the game.
“I always wanted to play Test cricket,” he said. “People had only seen me in white-ball cricket but I played a lot of first-class cricket earlier.
“So I was always confident that whenever I get a chance [to play Test cricket], I will be able to do well. I got the opportunity in South Africa and I was very happy.
“The start has been good. Hopefully you keep on learning and keep improving and getting better.”
Bumrah denied that he had introduced a new delivery to his armoury, saying working on his consistency has always been his main goal.
The other intriguing factor of Bumrah’s game has been his unorthordox action. The 25-year-old said he was grateful that none of the coaches he worked with at National Cricket Academy or in domestic cricket tried to change his action, and only asked him work on his overall strength.
“I don’t think too much about people who discuss my action,” he said. “Let them say what they want. When I was small, I used to watch a lot of people bowl on TV and I don’t really know how I developed this action.
“But whenever I went to NCA or for camps, no one tried to change my action. I was only told to work on my strength because they were worried that I could lose my pace if I don’t work on it. That way, I have been lucky.”
After making an impressive Test debut in South Africa, Bumrah missed the first two Tests in England but that did not affect his momentum.
“In England, I had thumb injury so I was still bowling because it was my left thumb,” the right-arm pacer said. “I was still bowling in the nets and because I was sitting out, I was keeping an eye on what is happening.
“Over here [in Australia], it is a little different because the ball does a little less, there is less lateral movement. So over here, you want to be consistent,” he added.