Aus vs Ind – 1st Test – Jasprit Bumrah – Virat Kohli don’t need us, we need him

On By Littum

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 161 in the second innings of the first Test against Australia in Perth was “probably his best Test innings”, captain Jasprit Bumrah said after India’s 295-run victory. Bumrah was also all praise for Virat Kohli for his unbeaten 100, saying he had never looked “out of form” despite enduring a string of low scores heading into the series.

“Out of all those innings, he (Jaiswal) had a great start to his career,” Bumrah told the host broadcaster. “But the way he played in the last innings was probably his best Test innings so far because he left the ball. He has an attacking nature but he left the ball well and played long. That really helped us.”

Jaiswal smashed several records en route to 161, one of which was becoming the second player to convert his first four centuries into more than 150 scores. He bounced back from a duck in the first innings, played a patient innings in difficult conditions, and put up a 201-run opening stand with KL Rahul. Jaiswal is just 15 Tests into his career and averages 58.07.

Kohli, who came into this series on the back of an average of 15.50 over three home Tests against New Zealand, brought up his century in 143 balls to lift India’s total to 487 for 6 declared, setting Australia a massive 534 target.

“I’ve said it before, Virat Kohli doesn’t need us, we need him,” Bumrah said at the press conference. “He’s an experienced player. This is his fourth or fifth tour. So he knows his cricket better than anybody. He looked in good shape, he was mentally fired up. Sometimes when you have such a long career, you hit tough out. conditions and he’s been fighting in tough scenarios for a long time but it’s hard to do that all the time in every game.

“But he seemed to be in a good spot and of course he got a good delivery in the first innings but he was still in a big spot and he capitalized in the second innings. We needed an experienced batsman then. He also played well, and also helped his partners to play well, so when he gets confidence at the start of the series, of course you can’t ask for more than that.

After being bowled out for 150 on day one, India came back strongly with the ball thanks to an excellent bowling display from their captain. Bumrah revealed what he said to his team at the end of their first innings.

“We were put under pressure in the first innings but the way we responded after that, I’m really very proud of the team,” Bumrah said.

“I played here in 2018 so I remember when you start here the wicket is a bit soft and then gets quicker and quicker. So I relied on that experience. Obviously this wicket was a bit less spicy than the last one, there I played here, but we were really well prepared.

“So I just told everybody to have faith in their process and ability because over here in this moment you have the opportunity to do something special. So on any given day experience matters, but if you have faith in your ability , can do something special.”