India captain Rohit Sharma has praised his deputy Jasprit Bumrah for the impact he has created with the ball in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit claimed that Bumrah's impact has been massive in the ongoing series and wants him to continue the same in the remaining Tests.
Jasprit Bumrah has easily been India's best player of the series so far. The Indian vice-captain has kept India in the series so far almost single-handedly through some brilliance with the ball.
Not only with the ball, Bumrah was impressive with his leadership skills in the only Test he led for India in this series. The 31-year-old quickly led India in the first Test in Perth in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma and made an immediate impact with eight wickets in the match.
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Rohit Sharma hails Jasprit Bumrah's skills
Rohit Sharma attended a press conference on Christmas Eve where he was asked about Jasprit Bumrah's performance in the ongoing series. Rohit hailed Bumrah for his massive impact and hopes it continues.
“It's nice to see that – a lot of people in the opposition camp are talking about him, how (he) needs to handle him and things like that,” Rohit told reporters.
“Usually that's the talk that goes around (but) the impact he's had on the series so far is massive. I hope he continues to do that because these (next) two games are very important for us,” he said. he added.
The Indian skipper further praised Bumrah's faith in his abilities and maintained that he does not need to be told too much. According to Rohit, the other bowlers just need to keep the pressure on the batsmen when Bumrah is in such form.
“The way it works is very plain and simple. He has so much confidence in his own abilities that we don't have to talk too much with him…that makes it easy for me,” explained Rohit.
“It's always nice to have someone like him in your team. When he's in that form it makes the job of the other bowlers a bit easier, all they have to do is try to keep that pressure on,” he added.
Rohit Sharma supports other bowlers to play a supporting role
Further talking about India's bowling attack, Rohit Sharma also feels that the other bowlers need to step up and play a proper supporting role for Jasprit Bumrah. However, he accepted that Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and the other bowlers are trying hard and have been a bit unlucky at times.
“Bumrah is definitely making the most of it. Siraj and the other guys bowling around him obviously know they have to step up to get the job done. They're trying really hard,” the Indian captain mentioned.
“They were a bit unlucky as well, a lot of plays and misses, some opportunities went down and – those things can happen. For me as captain my message is very plain and simple – keep running hard and keep doing what you've done they've done the job in the past, it's about doing it again now,” he explained.
the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is the leading wicket-taker of the series with 21 wickets in three Tests at an average of 10.30. He has been the saving grace for India in this series as he has consistently performed well.
Bumrah has consistently troubled Australia's top order with his outstanding skills and even had a hand in getting Nathan McSweeney out of the team after the first three Tests. Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj is India's next best bowler with 13 wickets in three matches.
The bowling line-up clearly relies on Bumrah and the other bowlers need to step up if India are to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Akash Deep showed promise in the last game and will be expected to do better at the MCG.