Jasprit Bumrah wreaked havoc on Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday, November 14. He bowled with great accuracy and finished with excellent figures of 5/27 in 14 overs. Bumrah made life difficult for the South African batters as he gave almost zero freebies, bowling five maiden overs in his spell.
This was Bumrah's 16th five-wicket haul in his 51st Test match. He now has the most five-fors among active Indian cricketers in the red-ball
format. Only Ravichandran Ashwin (37), Anil Kumble (35), Harbhajan Singh (25), and Kapil Dev (23) have more.
While the wicket did have some uneven bounce, South Africa getting bowled out for just 159 in 55 overs wasn't justified. However, it exhibits Bumrah's brilliance, as he once again proved that when he is bowling in full tilt, he can blow away any opposition single-handedly.
After his heroics on the opening day of the much-awaited Test series, Bumrah said that bowlers need to be patient on such surfaces and resist the urge of bowling magic deliveries too often, as it could come out wrong, resulting in runs being leaked.
“In Test cricket, if you need success, you need to be patient. Especially on these pitches. Here, the outfield is quite fast and the wicket is hard. If you are very desperate here and try to bowl magic balls, you can be at risk of leaking runs,” Bumrah said after becoming the first fast bowler since Dale Steyn in 2006 to take a five-wicket haul with the red ball on Day 1 of a Test match in India.
“You have to control your temptations. You need to assess the run-scoring options for the opposition batter. Every ball won’t do magic here. There are some deliveries that cause trouble to the batters. You need to consistently bowl in good areas to get rewards. In Test cricket, your ability to remain patient will be tested. Only in a few matches will you get 6–7 wickets in heaps. In the majority, you need to keep bowling well. Sometimes you won’t get wickets even when you’re bowling well. But if you keep working hard, you will have days when wickets come," he added.
While Bumrah acknowledged that there was some assistance from the pitch, he stressed the importance of being disciplined as a bowler.
“Yes, this pitch has a bit of help. It’s not a dead wicket. But you need to be patient. If you’re off the mark, run-scoring can be quick. If you’re not disciplined, you will pay the price,” he said.
It’s a little difficult to understand what the right length is: Bumrah
Bumrah said that bowling became easier when the ball got older. He opined that it was difficult to control the pronounced seam when the ball was hard and new.
“It’s a harder ball game. When the ball is new, the deviation will be a lot quicker. Once the ball softens, the deviation lessens and then your accuracy comes into play. When I bowled the first over, everything happened: the ball swung, it stayed low, it kicked high. It’s a little difficult to understand what the right length is. You keep bowling and keep figuring things out," Bumrah said.
“For the first three or four balls, everything happened: one ball kicked, one kept low. Where do you bowl? Then you see, okay, this is what it’s shaping into. As the ball became a little softer, it settled down; the deviation wasn’t consistent. When the ball is nice and hard, the seam is pronounced and it will do a little more. Once it softens, it becomes slightly easier," he added.
