Former Indian cricket team batter Robin Uthappa believes that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah becomes slightly "wayward" when he gets "desperate" for wickets. Bumrah finished with figures of 2/26 in the second T20I encounter against Australia on Friday but the pacer failed to take wickets in his first three overs. India were all out for 125 and the visitors needed Bumrah to take early wickets to keep them in the match. However, his wickets came in the final over of his quota with Australia very close to victory. Uthappa said that he was wayward in the beginning as he tried too hard to take wickets and Australia batters took advantage of his slight lack of discipline.
“I have observed that whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward. When he is disciplined and hits a good line and length, he mostly picks up wickets.”
“Australia took full advantage of that waywardness at the start,” Uthappa said on Star Sports.
Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh provided Australia with a solid start to the run chase and despite losing few wickets towards the end, the hosts ended up chasing down the target with 40 balls to spare.
“When we were bowling after scoring 125, the start was very important. If we had picked up two or three wickets in the first three or four overs, the game could have been closer because we have quality spinners in the middle overs,” Uthappa said.
“I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets. So we got a little wayward.”
Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma admitted that India's batting unit was caught slightly off guard by the extra bounce and disciplined bowling in Australian conditions.
Playing his maiden international series in Australia, Abhishek said the visitors had anticipated pace and bounce but were still surprised by how effectively the home bowlers exploited the conditions during the second match of the series.
The left-handed opener emerged top-scorer for the visitors with a fighting 68-run knock but Australia romped home by four wickets.
"The challenge is that a lot of players, including me, are on their first tour here. We knew about the extra bounce and pace, but still the way they bowled, surprised us," Abhishek said at the post-match press conference.
"They were very disciplined with their line and length, and credit goes to them." The left-hander, who opened the innings, said the team's aggressive top-order plan had to be adjusted once wickets began to fall early.
"Our plan was to dominate up front, but it was a little unexpected for us. When wickets are falling in front of you, no matter who the batter is, you have to play for the team. The wicket was difficult, it wasn't easy to hit shots," he said.
(With PTI inputs)