Stand-in India skipper Jasprit Bumrah rued his team’s dismal show with the bat in the second innings of the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston, which allowed the hosts to bounce back and eventually register a historic series-levelling victory.
The visitors took a first-innings lead of 132 runs but their second innings folded for 245, missing a golden opportunity to bat England out of the game.
Chasing 378 to win, the home team rode on unbeaten centuries from Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*) to get over the line with seven wickets in hand.
"That's the beauty of Test cricket, even if you have three good days. We fell short with the bat yesterday and that is where we let the opposition in to let the match slip away from us. Ifs and buts can always be there. If you go back, if there was no rain in the first match, we could have won the series. But England played really well. We have drawn the series and both teams played very good cricket and it was a fair result," Bumrah said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
On the back of Rishabh Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja's (104) tons, the tourists posted 416 in their first innings despite being reduced to 98/5 at one stage.
Hailing the two batters for their counter-attack, Bumrah said: "Pant takes his chances. He and Jaddu got us back into the game with their counter-attack. We were ahead in the game. He takes his chances, backs himself and very happy for him.”
Bumrah admitted that they faltered while executing the plans and also talked about his captaincy future.
“We could have been a little straighter in our bowling lines and use the variable bounce. The captaincy future is not what I decide. I like the responsibility. It was a good challenge, a new challenge. It was an honour to lead the team and a great experience," he remarked.
(With Firstpost inputs)
