ENG vs IND 2018: When You Have An Extra Bowler, It Gives You Some Cushion While Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah, on Saturday, insisted that having an extra-bowler in the ongoing fifth England vs India Test would have allowed the rest of the attack more time to recuperate and perform better.

India’s recent inability of wiping out the tail came back to haunt them again as England recovered from 181 for 7 to post a challenging 332. Jos Buttler was the architect of England’s revival, scoring a 133-ball 89 to rescue England.

Buttler put on crucial partnerships, adding 33 with Adil Rashid for the eighth wicket before Jasprit Bumrah ended the stand by accounting for the latter. However, it did not bring any respite for the visitors as Buttler and Stuart Broad added 98 for the ninth wicket either side of lunch.

KL Rahul took a fine catch at mid-on to eventually dismiss Broad (38), prompting Buttler to go all out. The hard-hitting batsman hit two sixes in a Bumrah over to move to within 11 of a second Test century before he fell to Ravindra Jadeja. In reply, India were off to a poor start as Shikhar Dhawan departed for just 3.

A 64-run stand between Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship. Sam Curran ended the stand by castling Rahul. But India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually ended the day on 174 for 6.

Speaking at the end of the day, Bumrah suggested that an extra-bowler would have made the other bowlers’ task easier.

“When you have an extra bowler, it gives you some cushion while bowling,” he said. “When you bowl with four bowlers, you to bowl more overs as you have to come back (to bowl) quickly.

“We bowled our hearts out yesterday as well as today, because we bowled a lot of overs. Sometimes, having an extra bowler gives you more rest,” he said.

The pacer further admitted the responsibility was on the Indian bowlers for failing to capitalise on a strong position.

“Obviously, we were at a good position when we restricted them to 198/7,” he said.

“The reason behind their comeback in the game was two-sided – their tail batted well. But we failed to capitalise on the situation as a bowling unit as well.

“We tried to bowl in the right areas, but they applied themselves well. We plan for each and every batsman and give equal respect to every batsman. We tried to execute that today, but it didn’t work.”

Bumrah also had a word of praise for Buttler. He, however, was quick to point out that it was a win-win situation for the England star.

“He played well today and took his chances. When you bat with the tail, you don’t have much to lose and you can play with a lot of freedom.

“Our batsmen have done that as well – we saw it in the first Test match when Virat (Kohli) was batting with the tail, he scored a lot of runs. That’s a position where a batsman has a win-win situation. If it doesn’t pay off, it’s okay. If it does, it’s a bonus for the team.”

Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja will start the proceedings with the bat on day three.