Jasprit Bumrah was glad of his internal “ammunition” after a superb display of reverse-swing bowling helped India defeat England by 157 runs in the fourth Test at the Oval on Monday.
Bumrah took two wickets in five balls after lunch, dismissing Ollie Pope for just two before a brilliant yorker clean bowled Jonny Bairstow for a duck.
Both paceman Bumrah and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets apiece as England lost four for six in a dramatic collapse after lunch on the fifth day.
Having resumed on 77 without loss in pursuit of a target of 368, England lost all 10 of their second-innings wickets in 51.4 overs on Monday.
Bumrah finished with the remarkable innings figures of 2-27 in 22 overs as India went 2-1 up with one to play ahead of the concluding fifth Test at Old Trafford starting on Friday.
England were relatively well-placed at 141-2 before their slump started with Kohli, speaking at the presentation ceremony, saying: “That was among the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain.
“We believed as a team that we could get all 10 wickets,” he added. “Bumrah gave 27 runs off 22 overs on this kind of pitch...a huge effort. When it started reversing he just said ‘give me the ball’.”
The 27-year-old Bumrah, speaking to reporters, said: “It’s very important to create pressure.
“We thought it was an important phase, so I went up to him (Kohli) and said I thought we should start well and try to create pressure. We are very happy to get this result, a lot of effort went into this win.”
‘Nothing is easy’
Bumrah bowled 43 overs on a good batting surface at the Oval and, having featured in all four Tests, now leads the India series averages with 18 wickets in 151 overs at a miserly cost of 20.83 apiece.
“When you are playing a Test match, you don’t realise how many overs you have bowled, now the main important thing was doing a job for the team,” said the 27-year-old.
“I work really hard on my fitness because I want to play cricket for the longest time,” added Bumrah, who took his 100th wicket in 24 Tests when he dismissed Pope.
“I’ve got the ammunition inside me, so whenever I push, I can push for the team.
“Obviously the wicket was on the flatter side, it required a lot of patience, a lot of control. The ball was reversing a bit, not like in India.
“It’s very important to create pressure. In Test cricket nothing is easy.”
Bumrah also paid tribute to all-rounder Shardul Thakur who, in addition to scoring two fifties, marked his comeback to Test cricket following a hamstring injury in the drawn series opener at Trent Bridge with the prize wicket of England captain Joe Root on Monday.
“His effort was massive,” said Bumrah. “He (Shardul) played two crucial knocks that really helped us to gain momentum, even in the first innings he changed the momentum and the momentum clearly shifted in our favour. And it’s always very necessary to have that fifth bowler who gives you that comfort and does the job for the team.”
With four wickets in the match, Bumrah (2/67 and 2/27) also became the fastest Indian pacer to take 100 Test wickets, in his 24th game, surpassing the legendary Kapil Dev.
“I don’t think much about the numbers. Because it is a very good thing, I wanted to play Tests, and I put a lot of effort for the Tests. And I work hard as I want to play Tests for a long time, so I am very happy that the team won and I could contribute to it. So, very happy and hopefully it will continue,” he said.
