Modest Jasprit Bumrah credits Virat Kohli for hat-trick: 'Owe that hat-trick to the captain'
Hat-trick hero Jasprit Bumrah credited Virat Kohli for his achievement as he continued to torment the West Indian batsmen during the two-match Test series.
Bumrah on Saturday became the third Indian to take a Test hat-trick after Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan but he might well have been deprived of it if Kohli had not intervened.
The 25-year-old took the wickets of Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase to achieve the feat but in the end, he got a bit lucky.
Not a good reader of the game when it comes to this aspect, Kohli went up straight ahead when the ball hit Chase's pads despite Bumrah being a bit apprehensive. Kohli in the end went for the review and his decision was vindicated.
And, a modest Bumrah didn't forget to thank him for that.
"I didn't know actually. I was not very sure of the appeal...I thought it was bat. So, I didn't appeal so much but it was a good review in the end. So, I think I owe that hat-trick to the captain," Bumrah told Kohli during a candid chat for BCCI.tv
"We had a discussion...I asked him what he thinks and he thought the guy has hit it. So the only question was if the ball was on line? Everything was in front of the wickets but I think it is bat. We all discussed and Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] and me thought he is late on the ball...so, we went for the review," a jolly Kohli explained his decision to go upstairs.
Harbhajan, who was the first-ever to achieve the feat in 2001, was also of the same opinion.
"This hat-trick belongs to Virat as much as it belongs to Bumrah. The bowler wasn't convinced but the skipper had a gut feeling. What if Virat wouldn't have gone for that DRS? It was a brilliant call by the skipper which complemented his magnificent effort," Harbhajan told PTI on Sunday.
The Turbanator still feels that without Ramesh's flash of brilliance, he wouldn't have been able to create history.
"I remember that I discussed with Dada (Sourav Ganguly) and we decided to keep it on stumps and try for a third leg before but Warne flicked it.
"Now to be honest, Ramesh wasn't the most athletic of the guys in that team. Yet at forward short-leg, he pulled off that stunner with a less than split second reaction time. Whenever I have later met Ramesh, I told him, 'buddy my hat-trick belongs to you'," Harbhajan fondly recollected.
"That's why I believe that some things happen that come together and such a beautiful thing happens. It was Ramesh's brilliance then and it's Virat's conviction now," said the owner of 711 international wickets.
The most endearing thing, according to Harbhajan, was Rahul Dravid's celebration.
"I have never seen Rahul so excited, jumping with joy. Perhaps, he also didn't believe Ramesh can pull off such a catch," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
