Jasprit Bumrah reveals he was kept in the dark about Washington Sundar’s promotion to Test No.3

Indian national cricket team spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has revealed that he had no idea about spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar’s promotion to No. 3 in the Test playing XI.

Jasprit Bumrah said he remained in the dark about the massive development within the Test team, apparently stating that he is not part of the management group at the moment.

I don’t really know what the whole thought process was – Jasprit Bumrah

The first Test of the two-match series between India and South Africa began on Friday, November 14 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

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For the all-important match, the Indian team made some huge changes to the playing XI as Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy were dropped and replaced by Axar Patel and Dhruv Jurel.

To add to this, India made a shocking change in the batting line-up as Washington Sundar was placed at number three after the dismissal of Sai Sudharsan, which shocked everyone.

At the end of the first day’s play, Sundar was unbeaten after 6 points after coming out at No. 3, and Jasprit Bumrah was asked to reconsider this decision during the press conference, to which he responded (as quoted by SportsKeeda):

“I’m not the captain at the moment. I’m sure there must be a reason behind it and when these guys come you can ask them. I don’t really know what the thought process was. We all support our players to get the job done. But I don’t know what the conversation was behind it.”

We’re going to England, the atmosphere is different – Jasprit Bumrah

After the first day of play, South Africa’s batting coach, Ashwell Prince, complained about the pitch, speaking to reporters and saying that there was a lot of uneven bounce.

On this, Jasprit Bumrah said that a team must be ready to face any kind of challenge when traveling abroad for Test matches. He said (quoted by RevSportz):

“That’s the challenge of Test cricket, isn’t it? Every time you go to different conditions, the challenge is different. We went to South Africa and five sessions in, the Test match was over (Cape Town). So, it’s never a simple answer that this is the way the wicket should be.”

“That’s the challenge of Test cricket. We’re going to England, the atmosphere is different. We’re going to Australia, the challenge is different. So we have to adapt. As a team, we won’t point fingers and complain that it’s like that. Yes, we are skillful players and that’s why we are in our national team. It’s our job to adapt and find ways because that’s how professional cricket works.”

When I played first, everything happened – Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah also gave his thoughts on the field, saying the ball did a lot of things when he bowled his first over of the match. He declared:

“When the ball is nice and hard, the deflection is maybe a little quicker. As the ball gets softer, the deflection goes down and then your accuracy comes into play.

“When I bowled first, everything happened: the ball swung, it stayed low. It was a little difficult to understand what the right length was.”

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