There is a lot of anticipation around India’s tour Down Under, where Virat Kohli and company will face Australia in three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests.
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The tour will get underway with the opening ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (November 27).
Just like the last Australia visit, speedster Jasprit Bumrah will once again hold the key for the visitors at the start of the innings as well as in the death overs.
While it can be quite daunting for a 26-year-old to shoulder the responsibilities of leading a bowling attack, Bumrah says that he loves challenges, and playing against the best in the business is what brings out the best in him.
"It will be interesting, always a challenge when you go to Australia and it is a well-fought series. You look forward to it as you always want to play against the best, you always want to challenge yourself and be in pressure situations," he told ANI.
Bumrah played an instrumental role in India’s first-ever Test series victory on Australian soil in 2018-19 with 21 wickets to his name.
He is now looking forward to the opening Test in Adelaide as this will only be India's second day-night Test and their first in Australia.
"Looking forward to it will be an interesting tour. Many new exciting things are also there, you have the pink-ball Test match. Hoping everything goes well and we will have a good time," he said.
Bumrah also believes that the ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball that has come in with an eye on the spread of the coronavirus will have a bigger role to play in the five-day format as compared to white-ball cricket.
"For me, it is not a big factor in white-ball cricket because the ball doesn't swing anyway a lot and the seam movement is also not much in the shortest format. So, you don't look to shine the ball a lot and it can only come into play when the surfaces are dry and you can reverse the ball. I feel it is a much bigger factor in the red-ball format," he remarked.
The battle for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy will kick-start with the pink-ball affair at the Adelaide Oval on December 17. Melbourne will host the second Test from December 26 while the third and fourth Tests will be played in Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7-11) and Brisbane's Gabba (January 15-19), respectively.
(With ANI inputs)
