India star speedster, who took five wickets in the first innings as India folded Proteas to 210 in the third Test in Cape Town, showered praise on skipper Virat Kohli and said that it's is always good to play under his leadership.
"I made my Test debut under Virat Kohli, it is always wonderful. He is always there to back us and he always gives all the bowlers a lot of motivation. He brings a lot of energy to the side. It is always good to play under him. It has been special as I started my Test journey in Cape Town and then to come back here, I am very happy. Personal performances are always good but when you give impact performances, that gives you more satisfaction," said Bumrah in a virtual press conference post Day 2's play.
Bumrah’s sizzling 5/42 complemented by a gritty batting display by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli helped India recuperate from a precarious position both in first and second innings against South Africa. At stumps, India’s scoreboard read 57/2, with the visitors extending their lead to 70 runs. Kohli (14 not out) and Pujara (9 not out) are presently unscathed on the crease.
"There is always a lot of noise but the success, whatever comes is a byproduct. So basically what I try to do is have a routine and follow it again and again. Someday I would get a wicket, someday someone else would get the wicket.
"We as a unit want to focus on our routines, there will be doubters but that is something an individual has to decide. When I have paid attention to outside noise, it does not help. I try to control what is there in my control," added Bumrah.
"Playing in South Africa, I made my Test debut on this ground so it is special to come back to this ground where I started my Test journey. We were trying to focus on the game, we are trying to focus on what we can do and everyone wants to contribute. We wanted to create pressure, in the last game we had an injury (Siraj). Here everybody was fine," he added.
Bumrah also spoke about the safe total on Cape Town wicket as he said that the wicket needs to be assessed quickly as there is no magic number that can be said.
"Obviously, there is no magic number that I can say right now that this is the magic number. We will have to assess the wicket quickly. We have bowled on it, it is a new ball wicket. There is some seam movement with the new ball and as soon as the ball gets older, seam goes down and it gets easier. It would be important for us to have good partnerships," Bumrah signed off.
