India’s interim captain Jasprit Bumrah has heaped praise on ace batter Virat Kohli for his stunning century during the second innings of the first test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy where the visitors secured a historic 295-run win at Perth.
After a disappointing test run at home, Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 100* in 143 deliveries helping the side to set a massive target of 534 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah was named as the player of the match for his bowling returns across the innings.
While speaking at th post match conference, Bumrah said, “I have said this before that Virat Kohli doesn’t need us, it is we who need Virat Kohli.”
“He is an experienced player, his 4th or 5th tour, so he knows best what his batting and calibre is like.”
“Sometimes when you have a career this long and you play in so many tough scenarios that he has played in, performing in every match becomes a bit difficult. But he was always looking in great space in this match.”
India’s stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was elated with Virat Kohli getting back among the runs in Perth 🏏
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“He was in good shape. He was mentally switched on. Sometimes, as long as the career is, sometimes you bat in tough scenarios.”
“He has always been batting in tough scenarios. So, it is always difficult to do in every match. But he was batting in a very good form and in a very good space.
He feels that Virat Kohli’s start in the Australia series will be a huge advantage for himself and rest of the tour. This was Kohli’s 81st century and 30 in red ball format.
“Obviously he got a great delivery in the first innings, but he was still in great space and he capitalised in the second innings.”
“The second innings we needed an experienced batter who plays good himself and also allows the other batter to play freely. If at the start of the series a player like him gets some confidence, you cannot ask for anything more,” said Bumrah.
“Special win, first win as captain. We were put under pressure and we showed the character. We can take confidence from this game but we need to start fresh in the second Test. We need to carry forward the learnings as well to Adelaide,” Bumrah added.
“When we got out for 150, no one was feeling down in the dressing room. That was the biggest positive, that attitude, you know,” he said.
The two team will be on a 10-day break before the second test which is set to be played between December 06-10 at Adelaide Oval.
