As India entered stumps precariously on Monday in the Gabba Test against Australia, reeling at four for 51 in reply to Australia’s first-innings 445, seam spearhead Jasprit Bumrah had to face a tricky bouncer from a reporter who asked his assessment of his team’s batting.
While the Indian camp may have been feeling the jitters preparing for a tough day ahead in Brisbane, Bumrah was quick to quell any undue pressure, keeping the spirits high speaking in the press conference hall.
As the journalist requested an analysis of India’s batting display, which saw meek dismissals of the top order to Australian seamers, he also admitted that India’s star pacer might not be the best person to reflect on the situation. In hindsight, Bumrah’s cheeky response turned out to be more than just a light-hearted reply.
“Hi, Jasprit. What is your assessment of the batting, although you are not the best person to answer the question, but what do you think about the situation of the team, considering the conditions in Gabba?” quizzed the reporter.
“It’s an interesting question. But, you are questioning my batting ability. You should use Google and see who has gotten the most number of runs in a Test over. But, jokes apart. That’s another story,” repled Bumrah, who famously smashed England pacer Stuart Broad for 34 runs in an over in 2022 during his Test captaincy debut in Edgbaston.
On day four of the rain-marred Test on Tuesday, it was down to Bumrah to ensure that he could stand up to the banter in a more serious context for India. After gritty knocks from KL Rahul (84), Ravindra Jadeja (77) nudged India closer to avoid the embarrassment of a follow-on for the first time since 2011, it seemed as though the visitors would lose the plot when Australia reduced them to 213 for nine. But when number 10 Bumrah and last man Akash Deep admirably held fort, the Aussies fumbled with their plans.
The unlikely duo batted out 8.5 overs and put on a 39-run partnership to steer India past the follow-on mark, to 252 for nine, shortly before bad light stopped play at Gabba. Standing true to his overnight banter, Bumrah (10 not out) even hooked Australia captain Pat Cummins for a six over fine-leg while Deep held his own with an unbeaten 27 off 31 balls.
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