Jasprit Bumrah has hailed "special win" after India hammered Australia by 295 runs in Perth, giving the stand-in captain his first victory in charge of the side.
Having been bowled out for 150 on day one of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, India rallied to take a first innings lead after rattling through Australia for 104. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli then both went on to make centuries on day three, with Bumrah signalling the declaration after Kohli reached his hundred. Having reduced Australia to 12-3 going into day four, India claimed a famous victory by 295 runs when the final wicket fell in the evening session of day four.
Speaking the post match press conference, Bumrah said: "I don't know how to react to that, but obviously it's a special win – my first win as a captain, but I'm more happy with the performance of the team that we were put under pressure and our character was shown. I'm very, very happy with that. Obviously whenever tough scenarios come, I look at myself and how I can contribute, even when I'm not captain."
Asked whether he would tell captain Rohit Sharma, who has now landed in Australia, that he would take over, Bumrah responded: "I said that in the previous Test match as well that he's the captain of our side and he's done a phenomenal job. I was filling in for him and we had discussions while he was in India about how we were shaping up. I'm not going to tell him that I'm going to lead, but I'll help him in whatever capacity I can."
Bumrah took over the captaincy for the first Test when Rohit's unavailability was confirmed before the game began. He previously captained the Test side in July 2022, at Edgbaston where England chased down an unlikely 378 to win the game and tie the interrupted series. Rohit is expected to resume his captaincy for the next Test match in Adelaide.
Captain Jasprit Bumrah show in Perth ⭐️#JaspritBumrah #India #IAUSvsIND #Cricket #Tests pic.twitter.com/96RPu2gDhS
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) November 25, 2024
Speaking on the performance of India's batters, Bumrah praised Kohli's century, his seventh in 14 Tests in Australia: "Virat scoring the hundred is a great sign for us. We're very happy with this start, and hopefully great things will follow.
"It's almost as good as you would want when you get the team out early and the bowlers get enough rest while the batters put in the hard work and give us enough cushion... Yesterday [day three] was perfect. We wanted to bowl in the evening and we got five or six overs. We wanted two wickets but we got more than that and I couldn't ask for anything more."
Bumrah himself took a crucial five-wicket-haul in Australia's first innings, which included two wickets in two balls when he dismissed Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith, the latter for a golden duck. During the press conference that he would be "very happy" if the rest of the series was played on similar surfaces to the one at The Optus Stadium.
The second Test match starts in Adelaide on December 6.
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