Bumrah puts Cape Town loss and this week's second Test in perspective
India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates a South African wicket during Day Four of the Cape Town Test at last week. Pic/Getty Images
Jasprit Bumrah is a confident young man. And, he already has the reputation of being a quick learner. Certainly, his elevation to Test whites from success in India blues was bittersweet. While he bowled some peaches to dismiss the likes of AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, Bumrah was also guilty of releasing the pressure that Bhuvneshwar Kumar had built in the first innings, reducing South Africa to 12 for 3.
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"In the first innings we thought we bowled a little fuller than the normal because in India the wickets are different where we have to pitch fuller to get the swing and to get the batsmen on the front foot. "Over here, there is bounce, there is a little bit of difference," said Bumrah. "We analysed that and tried to adapt that in the second innings and as a unit we were able to create pressure. We will watch videos of these wickets, what happens over here and we plan according to it."
Did that early misadventure take a toll on Bumrah's confidence? "Confidence doesn't dent after one match. If it happens, then you don't deserve to play," said Bumrah. "You learn from the mistake you made and go forward. There is not a single cricketer who has not made a mistake." Bumrah was also understandably wary about looking too hard into the conditions the team may get for the rest of the series.
"You know that usually the wicket over here is bouncy but as soon as you play the first match, you see it's a flat wicket and then you have to adapt accordingly. So this is my basic plan always – never go by perceptions that this will happen and this won't happen," he said. "Nowadays, anything can happen anywhere. So, day by day, learn from every session which you have, every experience which you have and analyse and go forward." But, Bumrah conceded that the team had to adapt sooner rather than later.
"We realised what mistakes we made in the first innings, so we were, just as I said, trying to create pressure from both ends and focus on our lengths which were wrong in the first innings," he said. "We just tried to correct them and not overdo things because over here when there is help from the wicket, you try to do extra but that won't help. So we were just trying to be disciplined and stick to the basics."
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