Melbourne, December 28
India talisman pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday reflected on bowling to Australia batter Sam Konstas and said he felt that he could have got the Aussie batter out six or seven times in the first two overs of the first innings on Day 01 of the Melbourne Test.
The 19-year-old was called into the squad in place of Nathan McSweeney and had an uphill task to open for Australia in front of a sell-out crowd against a proven Indian pace attack.
Konstas was entertaining throughout his stay on the crease and became a popular face among Australian fans. He made the headlines with a sublime ramp shot off Bumrah, declaring his intent to be aggressive even against the brand-new red ball.
Speaking to 7Cricket before the start of day three at the Melbourne Test, Bumrah said that he had experienced interesting batsman like Konstas.
"I have experienced heaps of it. I have played T20 cricket a lot, more than 12 years of T20 cricket and yeah, interesting batsman as well and I always felt I was in the game. I had never felt that, you know, I am far away from a wicket. Initially, I felt I could get him out six, seven times in the first two overs, but that is how cricket goes. Some days it pays off, it looks good, some days it doesn't, then you guys might be criticising the same person. So, that is how cricket is and I love different challenges and yeah, always looking forward to a new challenge," Bumrah told 7Cricket.
Konstas sent the Australian fans into a frenzy by executing his aggressive shots, oozing with confidence, which lifted the Australian team to a dominant position.
The Aussie youngster ended his innings with 60 (65), which laid the foundation for Australia to land at a challenging total of 474. After Australia finished on a high with the bat, their bowling specialists walked the talk to leave India tottering at 164/5 at the end of Day 2.
The India pacer added that results have been in his favour at the ongoing BGT series. However, the 31-year-old added that he has bowled better in certain situations in different places.
"Yes, I have felt good and the results have been in my favour, but I have bowled better in certain situations, in different places, but this is how cricket goes. Some days your execution might be off, you get wickets, but some days your execution could be perfect and you don't get wickets. So, I think it all evenly balances out someday," he added.
Bumrah picked up 25 wickets in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and is currently the highest wicket-taker of the series.