As the day wore on at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium on Friday during the India vs South Africa 1st Test, a hawk was seen flying around the stadium, scouring for prey. A little closer to the ground, India’s express pacer Jasprit Bumrah was absolutely devouring the Proteas’ wickets much to the adoration of a jam packed crowd, who had turned up in numbers even on a weekday. Ultimately ending with a five-wicket haul, his 16th in Tests, Bumrah played a massive hand as the South Africans were undone by India’s disciplined bowling attack and the unpredictable nature of the pitch, skittling out for 159.
As the pitch did its best to confuse the batters, with the ball sometimes staying low and sometimes bouncing wildly, even a bowler like Bumrah had to understand its fickle nature when he was bowling his first over.
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“Basically, it’s the harder ball game. When the ball is nice and hard, maybe the deviation would be a little quicker. As and when the ball became softer, the deviation lessens and your accuracy comes into play. So, when I bowled the first over, everything happened, the ball swung, it stayed low, it went high. It is very difficult to understand what is the right length so you keep bowling and you keep figuring things out. So that was my reading initially. The first 3-4 balls, everything happened: the ball kicked, one ball went low. Where do you bowl? Then you see this is the way it’s shaping. As and when the ball became softer, it did settle down, the variation was not consistent so then we realized that yes, when the ball is nice and hard, the seam is pronounced, it will do a little more and as and when the ball becomes softer, it’ll become slightly easy,” the 31-year-old seamer said to reporters after the end of day’s play in Kolkata.
India’s Kuldeep Yadav congratulates Jasprit Bumrah after the pacer took a South African wicket on Day 1 of the Kolkata Test at Eden Gardens. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
Bumrah even bowled an extended first spell of 7 overs on the trot, explaining that he and Mohammed Siraj tend to bowl 1-2 overs extra depending on whoever’s spell is going better. With Siraj looking a bit off colour during the initial stages of the match, Bumrah took the initiative. And it paid off in spades with the speedster providing India with a huge breakthrough when he sent back Ryan Rickelton in the 11th over and then followed it up with the scalp of Aiden Markram in his next over. The Proteas who looked to have built an advantage with 57/0 in 10 overs were suddenly down to 62/2 in the 13th.
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“Spell was going well. As I said, it’s the game of the hard ball. When the ball is new, when the seam is pronounced, there’ll be a bit of seam movement. The ball will zip and if the ball goes up or down, there’s a chance. So, we discuss it among ourselves. If my spell is going well, I bowl 1-2 extra overs. When Siraj’s spells are better, he pushes with extra overs. So, we keep changing the combination. It’s cricketing smarts. If you think there’s an opportunity, you can bowl the 1-2 extra overs depending on the situation,” Bumrah said.
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The Ahmedabad-born pacer added three more wickets to his tally, snapping up Tony de Zorzi for 24 before wiping out South Africa’s tail, sending back Simon Harmer for 5 and then Keshav Maharaj for a duck in the same over.
