Test cricket gives you surprises – Jasprit Bumrah

Ever since his return from a prolonged stress fracture, Jasprit Bumrah has been unstoppable, once again underlining why Team India values him so highly. It was another special spell from Bumrah that saw him claiming an important six-fer, leaving South Africa out of their element in the second innings as India got themselves a very modest target to chase.

Starting the day at 62/3, South Africa felt the sting of Bumrah for the first time on day 2 when he went onto claim David Bedingham. Following that he scalped Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi in addition to his first day’s haul of Tristan Stubbs to finish with figures of 6/61.

Not only did Bumrah impress in the second innings, but he was also India’s pace spearhead in the first Test where he claimed figures of 4/69 which propelled his overall tally in the series to 12 wickets, earning him the Player of the Series award alongside the South African skipper, Dean Elgar, who was the leading scorer of the tournament with 201 runs. Bumrah finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series, one more than his closest pursuers in Nandre Burger and Kagiso Rabada who picked 11 wickets each.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Bumrah said, “This ground will always hold a special place in my heart. It was always a dream to play Test cricket and the journey started here, there's always fond memories of my first game. Very happy that it went well today as well.”

He further added, “That journey started in 2018 - our bowling unit was experienced and we wanted to create an impact. We knew that if we want to do well in foreign conditions, we'll have to bowl a lot more consistently. In India, the spinners do a lot more work. The vision started from there.”

Bumrah continued, “Our team is also going through a transition. Lot of the bowlers have been changed, but the message is still the same, you have to keep fighting. It's not easy playing in South Africa, different conditions, the crowd is also something. We fought it out in the last game as well. It's difficult to keep coming at it because it requires a lot of strength and patience. If you lose it, in one session, the game goes out of your hand. We are very happy that we were able to do it in this game.”

He concluded by saying, “I didn't expect the game to go this fast, I have never played a shorter Test match in my life. Looking at the wicket on the first day, nobody really thought that this much was going to happen. We wanted to bat first as well. Test cricket gives you surprises. Very happy that we got our first win (in Cape Town), a great series and a fighting series.”