Jasprit bumrah He found himself in the middle of things on Friday when the Indian spearhead doubled down as a night watchman to help his team solidify its position in the day-night test against Australia in Adelaide.
After India pulled out by 244 halves, the onus fell on Bumrah for denying Australia a strong start and the quickness of the right arm with unorthodox bowling action did not disappoint.
Bumrah caught both lbw openers, Matthew Wade with an angling delivery, and Joe Burns with a signature yorker, to trigger a high-level meltdown.
Australia, reeling at 79-5, finally fell out for 191 as India took a practical, if not attractive, 53-run lead in the first inning.
Bumrah capped off an eventful day as he faced 11 balls as the night watchman, skillfully dodging and blocking confidently to end his wicket intact.
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In Photos: Ashwin wins four as India leads Australia by 62 races on Day 2
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Veteran R Ashwin produced one of his most memorable overseas performances as Indian bowlers collectively terrorized Australia into submission, pitching them for 191 on Day 2 of the Opening Day / Night Test on Friday. (AP Photo)
Courtesy of Ashwin 18-3-55-4, India managed to successfully neutralize a score of 244 in the first inning below par. Opponent captain Tim Paine (73 of 99 balls) was the only local hitter to show stomach for a fight. (AFP photo)
With a practical 53-run first inning lead, India found its starter Prithvi Shaw’s defense violated again before ending the day on 9/1 with a 62-run overall lead. (Reuters photo)
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (21-7-52-2) played the role of night watchman after Shaw’s removal, keeping Mayank Agarwal (5) company when the stumps were removed. (AP Photo)
Umesh Yadav (16.1-5-40-3) was brilliant with the old pink kookaburra as he lunged back to dump dangerous Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins. (AFP photo)
Mohammed Shami (17-4-41-0) was also flawless with his length, but was disappointed by the fielders as the only mistake in the second day’s performance was poor receiving effort. (Fake images)
Except for Labuschagne (47 of 119 balls), who failed to capitalize on three pardons, and Captain Paine, no other hitter seemed to know how to hit a surface, which picked up the pace on the second day. (Reuters photo)
Ashwin set up Smith with a few that moved with the angle and then threw one that straightened up and bounced some more. Smith, waiting for his turn, squared off and Ajinkya Rahane on the first slip made no mistake. (Fake images)
Newcomer Cameron Green (11) cursed himself as his was a long jump asking to be shot, but the extra bounce reached the top edge and captain Virat Kohli made a fabulous catch in the middle of the wicket, diving completely to your right. (Fake images)
Labuschagne was unbelievably lucky when Bumrah dropped a dolly on the thin leg after the batter had mis-timed a shot from Shami. After the dinner break, Labuschagne on the 21st, was brought down by Shaw on the square leg and that was also a poorly timed shot. (AP Photo)
Earlier in the day, Mitchell Starc (4/53 in 21 overs) and Pat Cummins (3/48 in 21.1 overs) fired the last four batters for an addition of just 11 runs to the nightly score of 233/6. (AFP photo)
His teammate Ravichandran Ashwin wasn’t surprised by Bumrah’s confident hitting.
“Jasprit is an extremely competitive cricketer, he really likes to fight,” said Ashwin, who claimed 4-55, as India advanced 62 runs with nine wickets in hand.
“He did a fifty in the warm-up game. He looks like home when he’s defending. So it was a no-brainer as far as the team was concerned.”
It was a busy day for Bumrah, but not everything went according to plan.
The 27-year-old was unusually sloppy when another Australian wicket was offered.
Marnus Labuschagne He was 12 when he passed a Mohammed shami gorilla, but Bumrah poured it into the depths, seeming distracted by fear of touching the boundary rope.
Bumrah had to endure the same heartache twice when he was the unfortunate bowler Prithvi Shaw dropped Labuschagne and Mayank Agarwal shot down Tim paineHook, both on square leg.
Labuschagne went on to make 47 when India took the lead on a dramatic second day at the Adelaide Oval.
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