IND vs AUS: Travis Head hails Jasprit Bumrah ahead of pink ball Test, says ‘It’s gonna be nice to tell my grandkids that I faced him’

Australia star batter Travis Head lavished praise on India speedster Jasprit Bumrah. He reckons that India's legendary speedster will go down as probably one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game.

Sports Tak

• Mon • 02 Dec 2024

Jasprit Bumrah and Travis Head

Highlights:

Jasprit Bumrah set to feature as Rohit Sharma's deputy in pink ball Test.

India are leading 1-0 in five Test match series against Australia.

Australia star batter Travis Head who is currently featuring against India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the upcoming second Test which is scheduled to start from December 4. Head also said that he would tell his grandkids that he faced legendary speedster Bumrah.

Bumrah is currently in the form of his life as the speedster was one of India's vital cog since his comeback from injury in 2023. The speedster was awarded 'Player of the Tournament' in the T20 World Cup 2024 where India defeated South Africa to win the trophy. The India speedster is almost unplayable in every condition, in his last outing against Australia during Perth Test, Bumrah picked up the crucial batters that helped the visitors to register a dominating 295-run win. Bumrah ended the first Test picking eight wickets.

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“Jasprit will go down as probably one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game. I think we’re finding that at the moment — how challenging he can be, and it’s nice to play against that,” Head told reporters on Monday. “It’s gonna be nice to go back and look at your career and go tell the grandkids that you faced him. So not a bad series of playing with him. Hopefully, I’ll face a few more times, but he is as being challenging,” he said.

Bumrah arguably bowled his best ball of the game to Travis Head in the second innings when he was looking set. The Australia star was forced to make an error, Bumrah's precision in length which created doubt in Head if to go forward or stay on backfoot and he eventually ended up playing a shot on the back foot with his hand thrown at the ball which took the outside edge to keep Rishabh Pant.

“They are not coming to me for batting tips, that’s for sure. Everyone goes about it in different ways. We’ll have a chat over the next three or four days,” Head would say on facing Bumrah. “(Bumrah) is so unique, and that’s with any of the bowlers. Every (batter) picks up different cues and goes about it differently,” he added.

The ongoing Test series against Australia is important for India to seal their spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final which is scheduled to take place in England, next year.