Jasprit Bumrah credits his Mumbai Indians skipper for suggesting a slow yorker to Shaun Marsh, one of his six victims in Australia's first innings; ends up with career-best 6-33 at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Australia's Shaun Marsh during Day Three of the third Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Rohit Sharma proposed, Jasprit Bumrah disposed, Shaun Marsh departed. This small passage of play was the highlight of a dramatic third day of the third Australia-India Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here yesterday.
Australia had limped to 89 for three in response to India's 443 for seven declared with the last delivery to lunch imminent. The ball was already 32.5 overs old and a little on the softer side, the pitch had lost its pace and offered no joy to the bowlers. "Nothing much was happening. So, last ball before lunch, Rohit was there at mid-off and he told me, 'you can try a slow ball like you bowl in one-day cricket'," Bumrah said, crediting his Mumbai Indians skipper for the wicket, late-dipping slower yorker that pinged the older of the Marsh brothers plumb in front.
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Rohit Sharma
Giving it a try
"I thought yeah, I could give it a go. Nothing was really happening and maybe a slower ball there, some of their guys play with hard hands… I wanted to try that, the execution was good on the day, and I was really happy."
Marsh was one of Bumrah's six victims as he finished with Test-best numbers of six for 33, his third five-wicket haul this year on the back of similar efforts in Johannesburg and Nottingham. India were 54-5 at stumps, taking a 346-run lead.
Having made his debut at the start of the year in Cape Town, Bumrah's tally now stands at 45 wickets for the year, the fourth most by a bowler in his first year in Test cricket. At some stage on Saturday, he will get the chance to add to that already impressive statistic.
'Self-belief is key'
"I am not surprised," he smiled. "If I don't believe in myself, who else will? I just try to back myself in any situation. Yes, the start has been good and I have played in England, South Africa and here. Three different kinds of conditions, but I have not played a Test in India. But whenever you go to different countries, you have new learnings and experiences," he said.
Bumrah's haul was dotted by craft and cunning, and the increasing adroitness with which he set batsmen up. He also got the ball to reverse at great pace, which explained the fullness of length he employed on a deteriorating surface. "We play on similar wickets back home and the ball reverses, so you try to make the most of it," he explained. "We were trying to use our experience in first-class cricket, where we have bowled with reverse-swinging balls. That was the plan."
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