Jasprit Bumrah rues not bowling on the spiciest pitch of the series in 2nd innings of 5th Test

India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah rued the missed opportunity of bowling in the second innings of the fifth Test match against Australia after the visitors suffered a six-wicket loss on Sunday. With it, Australia won the series by 3-1 and regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy after a decade.

Bumrah was seen going for scans on the second day’s play after he felt discomfort in his back. The ace bowler was able to bowl a single over after lunch on the second day’s play but he didn’t turn up to bowl in the second innings.

There was some hopes among the Indian fans as Bumrah came out to bat in the second innings but Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took the new ball as Virat Kohli led the team.

“It’s a little frustrating, but sometimes you’ve got to respect your body, you can’t fight your body. It’s a little disappointing in the end because I probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series, but that’s the way it is. Sometimes, you have to accept it and move forward,” Bumrah said at the presentation ceremony.

The fast bowler said the chat among the group was to keep the belief in themselves after setting a target of 162 runs for the Australians.

“The chat was about belief, the other bowlers stepped up in the first innings. With one bowler short, the others had to take extra responsibility. This morning, the chat was about having belief, and that we are good enough and if we create enough pressure, we will be able to do some damage,” he said.

Meanwhile, Indian bowlers were all over the place with the ball in the first 30 minutes but Prasidh Krishna gave a ray of hope to the visitors after dismissing Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith before lunch.

“So, a lot of ifs and buts, because the whole series was well fought, and today as well we were in game; it was not like it was totally one sided,” Bumrah said. “This is how Test cricket goes; in the nervy moments, whichever team holds their nerve for the longest and sticks together and tries to find a way out of that will win the series.

Bumrah was awarded Player of the Series after bagging 32 wickets in five Test matches at an average of 13.06.