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Jasprit Bumrah will be Australia's primary target for the Perth Test, which begins on Friday, November 22, according to former India coach Ravi Shastri. Since Rohit Sharma will be joining the team during the Perth match, Bumrah will be taking over as captain for the second time in his Test cricket career.
Shastri on Bumrah
Shastri believes Bumrah will come under pressure throughout the match, but the pacer dismissed the issue during the pre-match press conference. The former coach stated in an interview with Star Sports Press Room that Australia will train to constantly focus on and apply pressure on the opponent captain and that Bumrah will experience the same thing.
But according to Shastri, Bumrah is an experienced cricket player, and the Australians would be aware that the pacer would also be trying to target them. According to the former coach, the pacer would be alright if he could maintain his composure and enlist the help of others.
"The Aussies prefer to attack the leadership. Whoever the captain is, they train their guns and their spotlights on the captain. If they can bring down the confidence of the captain, they feel that the confidence of the team comes down. The pressure will be on Bumrah—there's no question about that. Any captain coming here will feel the heat, and Bumrah will be the same. But he's a very mature cricketer. He's a very competitive cricketer. Deep down, let's not forget, he's the best fast bowler in the world at the moment,"
"So, the Aussies know what they're up against. They might want to come after him, but they know he'll come after them as well. The important thing is, if he's calm and gets support from his other bowlers, I think he'll be fine. He'll be absolutely fine. But there's no question the pressure is on him. What I want to see from the outside is that he doesn't over-try because of the pressure of being captain and just sticks to his strengths and bowls as if he's an individual player playing in that team. It's easier said than done, but I think he's mature enough to do it. Yeah, that's something he said in the press conference too,” said Shastri.
Bumrah has an astonishing record in Australia. He has played 7 Tests in the land down under and got 32 wickets to their name.
