Bumrah thanks Kohli for review call
INDIA fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah said he owes his maiden Test hattrick to captain Virat Kohli, who successfully reviewed a leg-before decision which was initially turned down in the second match against the West Indies.
After dismissing Darren Bravo and Shamarh Brooks in consecutive deliveries at Kingston’s Sabina Park, Bumrah’s timid lbw shout against Roston Chase was initially turned down by on-field umpire Paul Reiffel.
A confident Kohli, however, decided to review and replays showed the ball would have struck the leg stump. The decision was overturned, with Bumrah becoming the third Indian bowler to claim a Test hat-trick.
“I was not very sure of the appeal,” Bumrah told Kohli in an interview to bcci.tv.
“I thought it was bat (first), so I didn’t appeal so much. But it was a good review in the end, and I think I owe the hat-trick to the captain.”
Bumrah finished with 6/27 as the West Indies were bowled out for 117 in reply India’s 416 in the first innings.
It followed the 25-year-old’s blistering second innings spell in the opening Test where he finished with 5/7. Ishant Sharma took eight wickets in that match and Mohammed Shami chipped in with four as India recorded a convincing 318 run victory.
Bumrah put down his recent success on pace-friendly tracks to his camaraderie with senior bowlers in the squad.
“There’s a lot of communication that goes on the field as well,” Bumrah told reporters.
“When I’m getting wickets, it’s somebody else’s job to create pressure, and when somebody else is getting wickets, (it’s) my job is to create pressure.
“We got a good relationship all of us, we want to get better every year.”