Jasprit Bumrah, who returned figures of 5/85 in the England second innings at Trent Bridge on the return to Test-match action, stressed on patience and consistency.
The 24-year-old put India on the brink of victory with his five-wicket haul in Nottingham, as the visitors ended the fourth day just one wicket away from winning their first Test of the series. The fast bowler is known for his precise yorkers in limited-overs cricket, but all his dismissals at Trent Bridge came off deliveries that were bowled on a good length or just short of it.
“In white-ball cricket, you try to outsmart the batsman. Here, it is all about patience and consistency. That was my main focus today. You can’t blast the batsman out in Test cricket. I was looking to bowl good lengths and lines, and challenge the batsmen with that. In the end, it was a good day,” said Bumrah after the day’s play.
India set England a massive target of 521 to go 3-0 up in the series, and it seemed likely that the hosts might concede victory to Virat Kohli and his men on the fourth day itself. However, a brilliant 169-run stand between centurion Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes gave England a lifeline in the game.
But Bumrah bowled exceptionallywell with the second new ball, returning two wickets in two deliveries in the 83rd over of the innings, and putting India in the driver’s seat once again.
“We were happy that even when the ball got older, we were bowling good lines and lengths. The movement was a bit less. As soon as the sun came out, it became a little easier to bat. We always had to believe that if we kept applying pressure, we had to get the result,” he said.
“The second new ball was seaming a bit more than the older ball and I was focusing on that. We were just trying to get one wicket and not look too far ahead.”
Bumrah got the second five-wicket haul of his Test career at Trent Bridge Bumrah got the second five-wicket haul of his Test career at Trent Bridge
The pacer injured a thumb during the first Twenty20 International in Ireland and had been out of action since then. However, it did not take long for him get into the groove at Trent Bridge. Despite bowling a long spell upfront, the pacer looked a threat whenever he was brought on by the Indian skipper.
“I was injured, but I was being able to bowl even then. Back home, I always kept training and focusing on what works here (in England), on what suits my bowling. Even in the first two games, I was trying to keep an eye on what worked for both the teams. I was just trying to replicate those things in the nets sessions,” Bumrah said.
“When I made my first-class debut, my first spell was of 10 overs. So, I was always used to bowling a lot of overs in Ranji Trophy. That always helps. Even when I was injured, I was working on my fitness during the training sessions. I was always in touch with the trainers so that when I came back, I was in good space with respect to that aspect. All of that helped today.”
Bumrah dismissed Joe Root with one that drew an edge and flew to KL Rahul, who now has five catches at second slip in the Test. It was a short-of-a-length delivery that angled in and straightened, doing the England captain in.
“I had a chat with the captain about what lines to bowl to him. We decided to bowl a little fuller and then (follow it up with) one back of a length delivery. That helped today and we got the result,” said Bumrah while speaking about the dismissal.
