For a few moments, Jasprit Bumrah ceased to be an intense competitor and transformed into a proud father who would one day tell some gleeful tales about India’s historic Perth triumph to his son when grows up. Bumrah’s family was in Perth to witness India’s 295-victory over Australia in the first Test at the Optus Stadium, and he could not conceal his delight. “This is a special win, first win as a captain, very happy with that. My son is also here, so I’ll cherish it with my son and I’ll remember this for a while. So, it’s very special,” Bumrah said in the post-match press conference here on Monday.
“He’s very young now, but when he grows up, I have a lot of stories to tell him.” Bumrah, perhaps, was visualising that calmer, emotionally settled day when he can cuddle around his son and talk about a memorable match in which he led the country.
“He was young and he was in Perth and, you know, we won a very important match. He also came in the T20 World Cup. So, he doesn’t know all this now, but when he grows up, I can tell him that. He was sitting in the stands when we won very important matches for India,” he added.
On a personal level too, the Perth win held significance for Bumrah as it was his first win as India skipper even though he was standing in for absent Rohit Sharma, who incidentally missed this match to be with his newborn baby boy.
“Pretty proud. You know, this was my second game. I captained in Birmingham as well, in the first phase we were ahead and then England played really well. So, yes, you’ll always take learnings from that.
“I’m very happy with the way we came back into the game and then the way the batting stepped up and the bowlers, with a new bowling lineup, were responding.” Bumrah said the Indian dressing room remained a nerve-free space even after getting bowled out for a low-score in the first innings.
“But the biggest positive for me was when we got out for 150, nobody in the dressing room was down because everybody was confident that if they backed their own ability, we can also make an impact.
“So I think that, going further, will help us because this is a tough place to play cricket and you will be put under pressure. But when you respond to pressure, that gives you a lot of confidence,” he noted.
Bumrah might also like to wrap the Perth pitch and carry it to every venue he visits, as he spearheaded India’s charge with an eight-wicket match haul.
So, it was of no surprise that Bumrah hoped for more such tracks going deeper into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I would never mind a wicket having bounce and seam in it. I love to bowl on such wickets as well because in India the wicket is a lot different. Over here, it’s a different challenge with the Kookaburra ball.
“You get seam movement, you get bounce and everything is tested. The challenge comes when your accuracy and your patience gets tested. So, yeah, I’m very happy with the way the wicket was and I’ll be more than happy if the wickets are like that,” he concluded.
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