"Playing Test cricket was dream" - Jasprit Bumrah excited for England challenge

India and England will face each other in a five-match Test series scheduled to begin on January 25. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has expressed his excitement to play red-ball cricket and is eager to play the Test series against England at home. The Ben Stokes-led England side is expected to reach India by Monday and they have been training in Dubai for the past few months. England will begin their tour of India in Hyderabad on January 25.

Speaking ahead of the Test series, Jasprit Bumrah has expressed his love for the longest format and said that the red ball is his favorite. The Indian pace maestro recently returned to the longest format of the game after spending over a year away. Jasprit Bumrah played in both the Tests against South Africa when India toured the Rainbow Nation recently. He looked lethal with the red ball and took 12 wickets in just two matches.

Before the series against South Africa, the last appearance for Jasprit Bumrah in Test cricket came back in June 2022 when he captained in a Test match against England. After that, a stress fracture in his back ruled him out of cricket for almost a year. “This is you know, my favourite (red ball) because I love Test format. It gives you a lot of joy. Playing Test cricket was my dream and I did that,” Jasprit Bumrah told Brut in an interview.

Jasprit Bumrah spoke about his favorite memories from Test cricket, which make the format special for him. He made his Test debut in 2018 against the Proteas in South Africa. The speedster said that picking his first Test wicket was one of the most special moments in his career. “My first Test wicket was AB de Villiers in South Africa. All of these memories are quite special for me,” Bumrah further added.

Jasprit Bumrah Was Out Of Cricket For A Year

Jasprit Bumrah had to miss the T20 World Cup 2022, Indian Premier League 2023 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 due to his stress fracture injury. The Indian speedster made his comeback as the captain in the T20I series against Ireland in August 2023 ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 in September. The fast bowler was at his very best in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and formed an incredible partnership with Mohammed Shami.

Since his comeback, Jasprit Bumrah has maintained his fitness and has remained injury-free in the busy cricketing calendar and now aims to end India’s long drought of an ICC trophy in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The T20 World Cup is scheduled for June 2024 and is set to be jointly hosted by the Caribbean Islands and the United States of America in the North American continent.

Jasprit Bumrah will play the Test series against England and the IPL 2024 for Mumbai Indians ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He does not boast a good record in home Tests and this will be an opportunity to improve his home stats in the red-ball format and help his team to reach the top of the WTC points table.