Jasprit Bumrah threw his weight behind Mukesh Kumar despite his dismal performance on Day 2 of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on February 3. On a day where Jasprit Bumrah ran riot with the ball, claiming 6/45 which helped India dismiss England for 253. Beside Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav dazzled with three wickets. Both R Ashwin and Mukesh Kumar, however, did not manage to secure any wickets.
Mukesh Kumar was notably expensive, giving up 44 runs across his 7 overs at an economy rate of 6.3, with Zak Crawley particularly aggressive against his bowling, hitting multiple boundaries with ease.
Bumrah leaped to his fellow bowler's defense during the post-match press conference in Vizag, showing support for Kumar amidst the critique.
We have a lot of confidence in Mukesh: Bumrah
Bumrah supported Mukesh, who has only three Test appearances to his name, by stating that setbacks can occur to anyone. He highlighted that the Indian team management places great trust in Mukesh. The fast bowler emphasised that his teammate must take lessons from his errors, choosing not to consider it a poor performance for Mukesh. According to Bumrah, it was, rather, a day of learning for him.
"That can happen to anyone (didn't have a good day). He has just started to play international cricket. He has started out on Test cricket. We have a lot of confidence in him. This is a long series. We have to rotate players. That is the mindset, I think, obviously, you have to learn by making mistakes. You get better by making mistakes," Bumrah said after the match.
"I don't look at it as a bad day. Everybody makes mistakes. It's a learning day. Even I make mistakes. That is the conversation we will have. 'Okay, that day has passed, focus on what we can do better. Try and give your best," he added.
Bumrah mentioned that the decision to not include Mohammed Siraj in the Vizag match was made by team management, aiming to conserve him for the duration of the lengthy series.
"It's a long Test series, it's a five-Test series. That's why I think we have the rotation theory," Bumrah concluded.
Notably, Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to take 150 Test wickets. Bumrah snared the prized wickets of Joe Root (5), Ollie Pope (23), Jonny Bairstow (25), Ben Stokes (47), and Hartley (21) and then James Anderson, effectively stalling England's momentum in the second innings.
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