So good to see Jasprit Bumrah back in his rhythm: Ravi Bishnoi

DUBLIN: India leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi said it was good to see stand-in captain and fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah back in action after being out for 11 months due to back injury and bowling in rhythm in the first T20I against Ireland at Malahide.

After conceding a boundary on his first delivery, Bumrah got the second ball to sharply move in and pick an inside edge off Andy Balbirnie's bat to disturb the stumps. He then took out Lorcan Tucker, who miscued his ramp shot, in the same over.

He ended with figures of 2-24 in four overs, in which was a big positive for the Indian team in their two-run win via the DLS method. Bumrah would also get the Player of the Match award, to complete a stunning comeback to international cricket.

“It was his first match in nearly after 11 months. The first ball he bowled was on the legs but after that, the five balls he bowled were so amazing to see. Everyone was waiting for this Bumrah and it was so good to see him back in his rhythm,” said Bishnoi in the post-match press conference.

With Ireland restricting Ireland to 139-7, with Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna taking two wickets each with Arshdeep Singh taking one scalp, they reached at 47-2 in 6.5 overs before rain arrived. At that time, India were two runs ahead of the DLS par score and eventually got the win as rain refused to relent, giving India the win and a 1-0 series lead.

“We were a bit unfortunate that the match was affected by the rain. Overall, we have played good cricket. We bowled really well and got a good start from our openers as well. If not for those wickets, we lost in the last over, we might have been in a very good condition,”

“It could have gone either way. We won the toss, and we got that advantage. If they would have won, the advantage would have been with them. Toss always plays a crucial factor in such conditions and we were lucky," added Bishnoi.

He further stated that one gets lots of learnings while being on the bench and added that his aim was to bowl aggressively. “There is a lot to learn. I was in West Indies for the five-match series, I played in one match and didn’t play the remaining four. But I was ready that whenever I will get a chance, I will give my 100%. I was ready for that opportunity. I wasn’t sitting chilled out when not in the eleven, but was always ready for a chance to come by.”

“It depends upon the team situation. You can’t go with your own theory. A lot depends upon what the captain is saying, what the game situation is. My focus has always been to do the type of bowling which I do, which is attacking style of bowling in the situation we were in during the match and looked to pick wickets."

Bishnoi remarked Sanju Samson made a “lucky one run” before rain came, while adding that he was not surprised to see the wicketkeeper-batter being a crowd favourite in Dublin. “Last year, when we were here, the atmosphere for Sanju bhaiya and DK (Dinesh Karthik) bhaiya was just the same. People from his state was cheering for him and it was good to see.”

With the second T20I set to happen on Sunday, Bishnoi signed off by saying no team can be taken lightly in the shorter version of the game. “Ireland is a really good team. In the T20 format, you can’t relax against any team. In this format, the game can be changed in one over. In the last over as per DLS we were leading by 10 or 12 runs and then we lost two quick wickets and then suddenly the difference was of one run made by Samson. In the shorter format there are no favourites.”