Jasprit Bumrah bowls as South Africa's batsman Dean Elgar looks on during the fourth day of the third cricket test match. | AP
JOHANNESBURG: There was a reason why India believed they could win a series in South Africa for the first time. Although the dream remains unfulfilled, they came close. The reason? 60 out of 60. It was a number Virat Kohli mentioned multiple times after the series defeat and it was the only time he sounded happy. You could understand why, as it was a rare occasion that an Indian attack had taken all available wickets away from the sub-continent.
What makes it even more special about the number is that out of the 60, 53 were taken by pacers. They had kept India in the contest even in the two Tests they lost in Cape Town and Centurion. Of the five pacers, Umesh Yadav was the only one not to get a match, as Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar matched the home team attack, with Ishant Sharma played a perfect second fiddle in the two Tests he played.
Barring the 2007 series win in England, it is hard to recollect a pace unit that performed so consistently away from home. In the past, Indian teams had gone abroad depending on batsmen, forgetting the fact that bowlers win Test matches. But after doing well in South Africa, where they had to alter lengths considerably, the bowlers have showed that this team can win overseas provided the batting unit sorts out it own issues.
A versatile attack is a rarity for any team and India are extremely lucky to have one, despite not having a left-arm seamer. If Shami’s strength is making the old ball talk, Bhuvneshwar underlined his credentials as one of the best new-ball bowlers around. The inexperienced Bumrah also took to Test cricket like a duck takes to water. The yorker is one of his stock deliveries, something that batsmen expect from him. But playing his maiden Test series, Bumrah showed why he is considered a quick learner.
Having bowled white-ball lengths on debut in Cape Town, he quickly corrected it in the second essay as he got India back into the game. In Centurion also he came back well in second innings before taking a maiden fifer at Wanderers.
“Bumrah fits perfectly into the ideal XI for us. He has given us breakthroughs when needed in the series and bowled his heart out. I am really happy for him. He wanted Test cricket badly and has shown what a high-class bowler he is,” Kohli said.
“He bowled with the experience of a guy who has played 40-50 games. He made life difficult for the South Africans. I am delighted for him. He works hard on his game, and has certainly come a long way from being a limited-over to a specialist,” the captain added.
Shami too was in a way surprising. Right through the series, where he took 15 wickets to join Vernon Philander on the top, never did he look completely in rhythm. He even limped at times in the run-up and it seemed he was not putting too much weight on his left leg. But on finding momentum, he made full use of it. To make the ball to reverse needs special skills and no wonder then that a majority of his scalps came when the ball was old. Ishant was unlucky not to have got more wickets.
With the rest attacking, he kept things tight when nothing was going their way. He might not get as much swing as the rest but knows what line to bowl to frustrate batsmen, which made them look for scoring opportunities against the rest. When nothing was going their way on Saturday, he brought India back by removing Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and watched his more teammates bowl India to victory.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com
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