The world outside the Indian dressing room may speculate about Virat Kohli when he goes through a lean patch, but within the Indian team environment, Kohli commands absolute respect.
Jasprit Bumrah, who led India to a thunderous 295-run win over Australia in Perth, had this to say about Kohli at the post-match media conference: “I have already said that Virat Kohli does not need us, we need him. He is an experienced player. This is his fourth or fifth tour. So, he knows his cricket more than anyone else.
“He looked in good shape, he was mentally switched on. Sometimes when you
have such a long career, you bat in tough conditions and he has batted in tough scenarios for a long time, but it’s difficult to do that all the time in
every match.
“But he looked to be in a good space and, obviously, he got a good delivery in the first innings. But he was still in a great space and he capitalised in the second innings. We needed an experienced batter then. He played well and helped his partners play well as well. So obviously, when he gets confidence at the start of the series, you can’t ask for more than that.”
Led by example
The win in Perth was Bumrah’s first as captain and he termed it as a “special” one.
“Special win, first win as captain. We were put under pressure and we showed the character. We can take confidence from this game but we need to start fresh in the second Test. We need to carry forward the learnings as well to Adelaide,” Bumrah said.
The stand-in captain said he thrives in tough situations and gave a peek into his mindset.
“Whenever the tough scenarios come, I look at myself to see how I can contribute, even when I’m not the captain. So, whenever tough scenarios are there, I look at answers — ‘if I’m going to bowl at this moment, what can I do?’ I automatically want to put myself in tough scenarios,” Bumrah said.
“I was trying to put myself in that tough scenario to make the job a little bit easier for the new guys coming in... Because, you know, it’s not very easy in your first tour to take a lot of responsibility. So, I was trying to do that and very happy to be on the positive side.”
“I am very proud of the team... The biggest positive for me was when we got out for 150, nobody in the dressing room was down because everybody was confident
that if they backed their own ability, we can also make an impact.
“So I think that, going further, will help us because this is a tough place to play cricket and you will be put under pressure,” he noted.
Stories for future
On a personal note, Bumrah said that Monday’s victory was all the more special as his family was there in Perth to witness the triumph.
“My son is also here, so I’ll cherish it with my son and I’ll remember this for a while. He’s very young now, but when he grows up, I have a lot of stories to tell him.
“He was young and he was in Perth and, you know, we won a very important match. He also came in the T20 World Cup. He doesn’t know all this now, but when he grows up, I can tell him that. He was sitting in the stands when we won very important matches for India.”
India
1st innings 150
Australia
1st innings 104
India
2nd innings 487/6 decl.
Australia
2nd innings (Overnight 12/3)
U. Khawaja c Pant b Siraj 4
S. Smith c Pant b Siraj 17
T. Head c Pant b Bumrah 89
M. Marsh b Reddy 47
A. Carey b Rana 36
M. Starc c Jurel b Sundar 12
N. Lyon b Sundar 0
J. Hazlewood not out 4
Extras: (b-5, lb-2, nb-11, w-6) 24
Total: (all out, 58.4 overs) 238
Fall of wickets: 4/17, 5/79, 6/161, 7/182, 8/227, 9/227
Bowling: Bumrah 12-1-42-3, Siraj 14-2-51-3, Rana 13.4-1-69-1, Sundar 15-0-48-2, Reddy 4-0-21-1
India won by 295 runs
MoM: Jasprit Bumrah