But after six dismissals to the India fast bowler across eight innings where he faced him, Khawaja admitted he “was just getting Bumrah’ed”.
“To be honest, I was just getting Bumrah-ed,” Khawaja told ABC Sport after Australia regained the BGT in Sydney. “It was friggin’ tough work. It was tough work. People were asking me ‘what’s going on?’ I’m being honest, I’m just getting Bumrah-ed.”
Bumrah finished the series as the highest wicket-taker, with 32 scalps at an average of 13.06 and was duly named Player of the Series.
He could bowl only nine innings though, and he couldn’t take the field during Australia’s chase at the SCG after experiencing back spasms during their first innings.
In Bumrah’s absence, Australia sealed the win with six wickets to spare, and Khawaja admitted that Australia felt more confident on a spicy pitch when they saw that Bumrah wasn’t on the field.
“You never want to see anyone injured and it’s a shame he was, but thank God for us. Because today would have been an absolute nightmare facing him on that wicket,” Khawaja said.
“And you can see what a big part of their team he was. And everyone felt it. As soon as we didn’t see Bumrah out there, we had this sense of feeling that we’ve actually got a chance here.”
Khawaja said Bumrah is “the toughest bowler I’ve ever faced” and hailed the fast bowler’s improvement from his first tour of Australia in 2018-19.
“He was always good, he was a very good bowler [in 2018]. But he’s been something different this year,” Khawaja said. “It looked like he’s just got his tail up.
“The wickets have definitely helped him, but he’s six years more mature, he’s a better bowler, he understands his skills. He understands who he’s bowling to and he has different plans for everyone.
“I always feel like no matter how good a bowler is, they’ll always give me something to score off. I just never felt like I could score off him. It just felt so hard. I’ve never found someone so hard to score off and get off strike as Bumrah and you always feel like he’s got a wicket ball up his sleeve.”
