Sydney: Laid low by a back spasm, Jasprit Bumrah was frustrated at missing out on bowling on the “spiciest wicket of the series,” but the premier India pacer emphasized that sometimes it becomes imperative for a player to respect his body.
Bumrah could not bowl on day three when India needed to defend a small 162-run target on a tricky wicket.
Australia needed just 27 overs to overhaul the target and claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years as they took advantage of Bumrah’s absence.
“It was really frustrating but sometimes you have to respect your body, can’t fight it. Disappointing, probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series,” Bumrah said, who was named Player of the Series for his 32 wickets in the series, during the post-match presentation.
“Felt a bit of discomfort during my second spell in the first innings and had to check it out.”
Resuming day three at 141 for six, India lost their remaining four wickets for 16 runs to be all out for 157 in their second innings.
Asked about the discussion in the morning, Bumrah said: “The chat this morning was about the same thing, about having belief and showing character. Lots of ifs and buts, the whole series was fought hard, we were in the game today as well, not like we were out of it, this is how Test cricket goes.”
“Being in the game for longer, creating pressure, absorbing pressure and playing to the situation are all important. You have to adapt to the situations and these learnings will help us in the future.”
Bumrah added that the experience of playing in Australia will help young players like Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana in future.
“They’ve (youngsters) gained a lot of experience, they’ll go from strength to strength. We’ve shown that we have a lot of talent in our group.
“A lot of the youngsters are keen, they’re disappointed that we haven’t won but they’ll take learnings from this experience. It was a great series, congratulations to Australia, they fought really well.”
Travis Head, who emerged as the highest run-scorer in the series with 446 runs, heaped praise on Bumrah.
“He’s a great performer, he had an exceptional tour. It is the best individual performance I have seen in Test cricket,” Head said.
Winning captain Pat Cummins described his team’s 3-1 victory in the five-match series as “unreal” and expressed immense pride in regaining the trophy.
“Unreal. A few of us didn’t have this Trophy. Lived up to all the hype. Just been clear with our plans. We tried to be proactive, and ultimately, it worked out. Immensely proud,” he said.
The star pacer also praised the camaraderie within the squad.
“We weren’t at our best in Perth, but we had a lot of fun playing alongside each other. I love playing with these guys. Such a special group. I feel privileged to be part of such a team. Three debutants in this series fitted in well and contributed at different times.”
Reflecting on his own performance, Cummins called the series “one of my most favourite Test series.”
“Pretty happy with how I played. I had a fresh start coming into this series. These are the big series you prepare for. There were some keen moments when our mainstays really stood up. You need to do that to beat a side like India. Our guys put their hands up. It would go down as one of my most favourite Test series,” he added.
Adjudged Player-of-the-Match for his impressive 10 for 76, Scott Boland expressed his satisfaction after playing a key role in Australia’s 3-1 win.
He had replaced injured Josh Hazlewood in the squad.
“It’s been a really enjoyable couple of months. I didn’t think I would take too much part in the series. But I was prepared. Just got my body right, did some gym work and here I am,” said Boland, who took six for 45 in the second innings.
“It was awesome, to win 3-1 against India, hasn’t been done for a while. I am just happy to play the part whenever possible.”
PTI
