Jasprit Bumrah
Credit: Reuters Photo
Perth: Jasprit Bumrah has an unenviable job ahead of him as India begin the defence of their Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia here from Friday. Not only does he have to guide an inexperienced pace attack but he has been saddled with leading India in the first Test in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
What does he have to tell the young faces in the team who have little or no experience of international experience in the side?
"When I came here, it was just my second (international) tour, but in my head, I wanted to make a difference," he said. "I was not looking at I'm inexperienced, I was looking at myself as to how I can contribute, and if I believe I can do it, then I'll make a difference.
"So that is the message that I've passed on as well, that any one of us can make a difference on a given day, doesn't matter what is the reputation, or how many games we have behind our back, because you gain experience by playing. Nobody's born with experience, so yes, if that self-belief is there, that's all that matters," explained Bumrah who got clarity about leading after landing in Australia.
Bumrah continued: "We got that (practice) time at WACA, because a lot of these guys are coming here for the first time too, you know. Bowling with the Kookaburra ball, there's a little more bounce than what we are used to in India, so getting that length, so all of those things were there... We got ample time to prepare. The message that I would give them is that I always believe in you... Self-belief is there, because at this moment, how cricket is going, everybody's played a lot of cricket, on that day, if you believe that you're good enough, you can make an impact. Doesn't matter if you've played 100 Test matches, you've played 50 Test matches, it depends on what is going on inside you."
Attritional battle
Australia skipper Pat Cummins agreed that BGT is the most closely-fought Test series in the world today.
"I think it's probably been the most closely fought (series). Obviously, the Ashes has got a rich history and is really well, you know, watched as well, but I think the Border-Gavaskar, it's been very tight every series that I've kind of seen in recent times. I think both teams play quite similarly at times; some fast bowlers over here in Australia. So it's big, you know, now having five Test match series for the first time adds that little bit extra. It gets really attritional, kind of history would suggest as well. So, yeah, it's a big one, yeah."