India lock in playing XI as Bumrah looks forward to series start
Bumrah confirmed India have settled on their XI that will take on Australia and is looking forward to leading the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
Stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah has provided an update on the make-up of his side's playing XI for the opening Test against Australia in Perth.
Bumrah acknowledged he will captain the team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, and also confirmed that India had already settled on their XI for the crucial ICC World Test Championship contest.
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The right-armer revealed the exact playing XI would not be announced until just prior to play commencing on Friday and after the toss.
"We have finalised our playing XI and you will get to know tomorrow morning before the start of the match," Bumrah said.
India enter the five-match series against Australia needing to win four matches to earn a third straight appearance in the World Test Championship Final and Bumrah said the side was well prepared for the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
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While India have arrived in Australia on the back of a disappointing 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand, Bumrah believes that series loss will matter little when the action begins Down Under.
“When you win you start from zero but when you lose, then also you also start from zero. We are not carrying any baggage from India. Yes, we have our learnings from New Zealand series but those were different conditions and our results here have been different,” Bumrah said.
Although Bumrah is likely to relinquish the captaincy when Rohit eventually does arrive in Australia, the pacer said he was a big advocate of fast bowlers holding the responsibility of being skipper.
“I have always advocated for pacers being captains. They are tactically better. Pat (Cummins) has done a phenomenal job. There are a lot of models in the past as well. Kapil Dev and lot of other captains in the past. Hopefully a start of a new tradition,” Bumrah added.
Among the key concerns for the visitors is the lean patch of Virat Kohli with the bat. The talismanic run-scorer amassed a mere 192 from 10 innings in India’s recently concluded home Test season.
Bumrah however, has backed the former Indian skipper to shine come the marquee Test series.
“I don’t have to say anything about Virat Kohli the batter. He’s one of the greats of the game. I don’t need to have any anecdotes or special inputs to give him.
“He’s the utmost professional that we have in our team. He’s got a lot of success, he’s one of the leaders. I made my debut under him. So he knows what he’s doing.”
Playing Test cricket in Australia, Kohli averages 54.08 - his best playing away from home - and has 1352 runs from 12 matches, that include six hundreds and four fifties.
The stand-in Indian skipper believes the recent run-scoring drought to be an aberration, and concedes that he has witnessed positive signs from the 36-year-old in India’s training in lead up to the Perth Test on Friday.
“One or two series here and there can go up and down. But the confidence that he has at this moment, I have no doubts about (him). He’s prepared and mentally switched on, looking to contribute. The way I’ve seen him in training, the signs are ominous. I don’t want to jinx it by saying anything else, but he’s looking in very good shape.”