Ahead of the first Test against Australia of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah shared that star India batter Virat Kohli looked extremely sharp in the nets, but added that he did not want to jinx it. The first Test between India and Australia will kickstart on Friday at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Both sides, placed at the top two spots of the ICC World Test Championship points tally will be aiming to make their chances for the final stronger. While India seeks to bounce back after a rare, but humiliating home setback against New Zealand, Australia would be aiming to avoid a hat-trick of series losses to India at home.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference about Virat, Bumrah said, “I made my debut under Virat Kohli, he is a leader in the team. He is one of the greatest. He is the utmost professional we have in our team, I do not wanna jinx, but he was looking sharp in the nets.”
After a disastrous home season with the bat against Bangladesh and New Zealand and underwhelming Test numbers over the years, which includes just two centuries, Virat would be making his fifth and one of his toughest tours to Australia. All the speculation around Virat’s form, future in Test cricket and lack of centuries have not affected his hype in Australia as newspapers feature posters and attractive images/slogans highlighting the larger-than-life status the batter enjoys in Australia. But all the hype does not take away from the fact that the series could be make-or-break for his Test legacy.
Virat’s form from 2016-2019 is among the greatest peaks in the longest format, having made 4,208 runs in 43 Tests and 69 innings at an average of 66.79, with 16 centuries and 10 fifties. It was during this period he smashed seven double centuries, the most by a captain in Tests, a record which still stands.
But things have changed a decade later. This year in 19 matches across international formats, Virat has just scored 488 runs at a shockingly low average of 20.33, with just two half-centuries in 25 innings and best score of 76.
Since 2020, Virat has faced an elongated lean patch in the whites, scoring 1838 runs from 34 Tests at an average of 31.68, comprising just two centuries and nine fifties. Virat has had a horrific home Test season this year against Bangladesh and New Zealand, in which he scored just 192 runs in 10 innings at an average of 21.33 with just one fifty. In the latest ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, Kohli slipped out of the top-20 list for the first time in 10 years.
Speaking about being ready for the series, Bumrah said that the team feels well prepared since everyone came early and got to spend a lot of time at the WACA Ground for practice. He also pointed out that even though the team features a lot of youngsters, the series is going to be fine as the last two times India sent some youngsters Down Under, they came back home with the trophy.
“We always believe and have confidence in our side whenever we play, whatever the situation might be. In terms of preparation, we are in a very good place. Now, it is all about being mentally switched on and we are looking to do that. And then hopefully things will fall in place,” he added.
Bumrah said that he does not look at captaincy as a post, but rather as a responsibility, something he loves.
“I always wanted to do the tough jobs ever since I was a child. You want to be in the thick of things, want to be thrown into tough challenges and scenarios. This adds a new challenge. I tried to learn from them (Rohit and Virat). When I became a senior, I started to pass on the things I learnt. There is no greater honour than this. I always wanted to play this format. Very few have played Tests for India, captains are even fewer. So I am privileged to be in this position,” he added.
Speaking about his captaincy style and how different it is from others, Bumrah said that one has to find his own way and his way is to trust his instincts.
“You have to find your own way. You cannot copy someone blindly. Even while I am bowling, I have never followed a copy-book plan, or a module. I always trust my instincts and guts. Tactically as a bowler, you make a lot of plans, you are aware of what to do, and what adjustments to make. I try to cover all bases as much as possible,” he added.
Notably, this is Bumrah’s second Test as captain, with his previous assignment being against England in the UK, the fifth and final Test of the 2020-21 series, rescheduled in 2022, which India lost.
After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.
Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18. The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.
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