The Story
India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah along with the opener Rohit Sharma were the top contributors in India’s three-wicket win over Sri Lanka last night at Pallekele. The 23-year-old bowler registered his maiden five-wicket haul which saw Sri Lanka manage just 217 for nine batting first while Sharma slammed an entertaining century to help India knock off the target with ease.
The star duo after posting a match winning performance later came together again in an amusing interview session. Senior mate Sharma performed the role of the interviewer while Bumrah answered the questions, some funny and some game related, thrown at him.
Who’s Your Favourite Actress?
Bumrah may be an intimidating fast bowler on the field, but he is a shy person away personally. When asked about his favourite actress, Bumrah calmly avoided the question and requested Rohit to move on to cricket related questions.
“I don’t think this question is relevant to the match”, said Bumrah speaking to BCCI.tv
Time with family is always Revitalizing
Bumrah was not a part of the Test side which whitewashed the hosts, Sri Lanka, before the ODI series began. This gap in the tight cricketing schedule allowed Bumrah to spend some time with his family after having returned from England where he was a part of the Champions Trophy 2017 squad which reached the finals.
“It is always good to have a break because in Indian cricket you don’t often get a break because you are continuously playing throughout the year. It was good to spend some time with the family and to get the strength level back up. So, when you come back, you feel fresh, and the hunger is back. It is good to be back,” he said.
Simplicity is the Key
Bumrah was tough to play with the new ball, as the pitch at Pallekelle “seamed” a bit more than normal. At the same venue, in the 2nd ODI, he received less support. Speaking about the difference in the nature of the wicket, Bumrah said,
“In the last match the wicket was a bit slow, so the ball was gripping at that time. Over here, when we started to bowl there was a little bit of seam movement with the new ball so we were trying to extract that and use it to our advantage. Trying to bowl a good line and length and mix it with the odd variation. We were trying to do that and just hit the good areas,” he revealed.
“You don’t think about it (the variations) because on a particular day you don’t use everything you have. You stick to one or two things because if you experiment too much things won’t go your way. There is always pressure when you play for India but you don’t think about the pressure and look to enjoy the responsibility which is given to you,” he said.