Jasprit Bumrah silences Kohli’s critics after 'special' win over Australia

PERTH: India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah took an indirect dig at star batter Virat Kohli’s critics after the team’s resounding 295-run victory over Australia in the first Test of the five-match series here at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Kohli was under severe criticism for his string of dismal performances in the format as he had been averaging just 32 since 2020 and had not been able to score a century since the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The right-handed batter also had a quiet outing in the three-match home Test series against New Zealand, where he managed only 93 runs, which raised doubts over his future in the longest format.

Meanwhile, after his drought-ending century, which played a pivotal role in leading India to a commanding victory, stand-in captain Bumrah praised ‘experienced’ campaigner and highlighted his importance to the team.

"I have said this before, Virat Kohli doesn't need us, we need him," Bumrah said at the post-match press conference.

"He is an experienced player. This is his fourth or fifth tour. So he knows his cricket better than anyone else. He looked in good shape, he was mentally switched on. Sometimes when you have such a long career, you bat in tough conditions and he has batted in tough scenarios for a long time, but it's difficult to do that all the time in every match.

"But he looked to be in a good space and obviously, he got a good delivery in the first innings, but he was still in a great space and he capitalised in the second innings. We needed an experienced batter then. He also played well, and helped his partners play well as well. So obviously, when he gets confidence at the start of the series, you can't ask for more than that."

Bumrah also lauded emerging opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his resilience and said his 161 in the second innings of the aforementioned fixture was ‘probably his best Test innings’.

"Out of all these innings, he [Jaiswal] had a great start to his career," Bumrah said.

But the way he played in the last innings was probably his best Test innings so far because he left the ball. He has an attacking nature, but he left the ball well and played long. That really helped us," he added.

The right-arm pacer also praised his team for showing ‘character’ and staging an astounding comeback after being put under pressure.

"Obviously, a special win, my first win as captain, I'm very happy with that and more happy with the performance of the team. We were put under pressure and showed character," Bumrah told reporters.

"Whenever tough scenarios come, I ask myself 'how I can contribute?' We're a new side so I wanted to put myself in tough scenarios when we needed to do something, to make the job a bit easier for the new guys coming in."