Team India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced a magnificent outing on Day 2 of the second Test of the series in Visakhapatnam, clinching a 10th five-wicket haul to dismantle the English batting lineup. England were bowled out for 253 in reply to India’s 396, as Bumrah wreaked havoc with his immaculate skills and precision.
However, Bumrah’s pace partner, Mukesh Kumar endured a tough outing in his first Test appearance on home soil. The right-arm pacer went wicketless and conceded 44 runs off his seven overs; on many occasions, Mukesh wandered off his lengths, bowling a significant number of full deliveries in his first spell that were easily dispatched for boundaries by Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
Following the day’s play, however, Bumrah defended Mukesh against criticism. The 30-year-old star India pacer stated it was a “learning” for Mukesh, who has just begun his Test career. Mukesh, also 30, made his Test debut last year in July during the series against West Indies. He has since appeared in six ODIs and 14 T20Is for the side.
“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 in the post-match press conference.
“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’.”
Mukesh was called into the XI to replace Mohammed Siraj, who has been rested to manage his workload. Siraj has been on the road for many months, appearing in the Asia Cup, the ODI World Cup, and the white and red-ball tour of South Africa that ended last month.
Bumrah ended the innings with six wickets to his name while conceding only 45. Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) and Axar Patel (1/24) were the other wicket-takers in the innings as Ravichandran Ashwin also went wicketless.
India returned to bat during the final session of the day, ending unbeaten on 28 with openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal staying intact.
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