Jasprit Bumrah, stand-in India skipper, stated that the Indian team needs to experience and grit of veteran batter Virat Kohli. This came after India defeated Australia in the first BGT 2024 Test in Perth by 295 runs.
Resuming on day 4 from 12/3, Australians showed some resilience as Travis Head (89), Mitchell Marsh (47), and Alex Carey (36) played some good knocks. However, Indian bowlers kept the pressure on the Aussies, who were bowled out for 238 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj picked three wickets each and Washington Sundar took 2 scalps. The stand-in captain, who also got the Man of the Match award, set the tone with an outstanding performance, claiming a match haul of 8/72.
However, following the win against Australia, Bumrah heaped praise on Kohli, who notched up a well-deserved century in the second innings of the first Test.
"Virat Kohli doesn't need us, we need him. He knows what he needs to here, the best. He has batted in touch scenarios all his life..he is in great space. He got a good delivery in the first innings. We needed an experienced batter in the second innings and he delivered," said Bumrah in the post-match press conference.
"Really happy and proud of the win. To go 1-0 up. Lots of positives to take away," he added after his first win as Team India's Test captain.
"When you get out on a low score, sometimes bowlers get desperate. The message was clear to stick to the plans. Very happy to get the first Test win as captain. Even when I am not captain, I look to contribute as much as possible. Yesterday was almost as good as you want. The batters played long, bowlers got to rest. Yesterday was perfect. We wanted to bowl in the evening. We wanted 2 wickets but got more,” Bumrah stated.
Bumrah was also asked about the captaincy now that Rohit Sharma had arrived in Australia.
"Rohit Sharma is the captain of our side, I was just filling in. I am going to help in whatever capacity I can. When you do well, you get the positives but even when we don't do well, I don't go too down. Adelaide will be a pink ball, so we have to start from zero. I will never mind wickets having bounce and seam. I love watching pace bowling. I am very happy. It wasn't a bowling paradise but very happy with how the wicket was," he further told the reporters.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal also received rich praise from Bumrah for their brilliant partnership at the top in India’s second innings.
"KL Rahul was one of the big positives from the first Test win. "Very happy for KL Rahul. Batted well in the first innings even in the second innings. An ideal Test innings. Jaiswal, it was his best Test knock. He took his time and batted deep. He has patience. That's a positive side that a batter can adapt early in his career," Bumrah said.
"The biggest positive for me was no one was down after we got out for 150. Going forward, it'll be the biggest positive. My son and wife are here. It is special. He is still very young but when he grows up, I have so many stories to tell. Winning the T20 World Cup and now here in Perth.
"Perth was a different wicket this time than in 2018. It was more spicy in 2018. It eased down a lot in the second innings after we batted for long yesterday. Pink ball, I am not thinking about it. We will recover first," he concluded.
(PTI inputs)
