WITH the first Test between Australia and India at Optus Stadium in Perth approaching closer, the focus is shifting on Jasprit Bumrah, who will lead the visitors in the game instead of regular captain Rohit Sharma, whose arrival on the Australian soil has been delayed due to personal reasons.
Bumrah, who will turn 31 next month, has been the team’s vice-captain but with the responsibility of the top job falling on his shoulders, the ace bowler would be feeling much pressure. Or won’t he?
The noise is too high around his team this time, more because it was drubbed 3-0 by New Zealand in a home series recently, but for Bumrah, it is “self-belief that matters most in any condition”.
In an interview with 7Cricket recently, the India spearhead said it is on self-belief that India are banking on and the players are talking about it. He said one finds himself in a great position if the focus is on oneself and the preparation. “Everything else will take care of itself,” he said.
Bumrah first bowler to lead India in Australia in Tests after Kumble
Bumrah, who is on this third visit Down Under and has taken 32 wickets in seven matches, has led India in a Test match in England in 2022 which the side lost despite taking a solid lead in the first innings. He is the first bowler since former spinner Anil Kumble to lead in a Test match in Australia after 2007-08.
With no Mohammed Shami around, the pacer would have to deliver with the ball and hope that his batters come up with a worthy show, especially after the miserable performance against the Kiwis at home.
India won their last two Test series in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21 and would have to win this series by a good margin to stay alive in the race to the World Test Series final next year.
South Asians Globally
