If Day 4 of the second Test against Bangladesh was any indication, it proved yet again why Jasprit Bumrah is invaluable to this Indian team regardless of the format or the conditions. Bumrah's workload was the biggest talking point before the 10-match long Test season and it will continue to be even after the Indian team lands in Australia - when to play, when not to play, how to decide what time will be right for him to take rest as him playing at least four out of the five matches will be key for India Down Under if the visitors have to make it three-peat.
Bumrah, who reckoned that the Test is his favourite format, mentioned before the start of the fourth day's play on Monday, September 30 that getting a few overs under his belt was important during this ongoing series given that he hadn't played competitive cricket for almost three months, since the T20 World Cup.
"Yes, obviously it's important to be smart because we have had a long break after the T20 World Cup, I didn't play a lot of cricket. I was preparing for the big Test season. So yeah, it's good to get some overs under the belt," Bumrah told Dinesh Karthik on broadcast on Sports18. "Obviously now over here, we've missed a few days but it's important that I look forward to building my overs and getting ready in Australia because the number of overs we bowl in Australia will be a lot more than the number of overs we bowl in India.
"So, it's on the road of preparation that you keep playing and keep getting into the groove and by the time you reach Australia, you are firing on all cylinders," Bumrah added.
A couple of deliveries on the fourth day in Kanpur, one to dismiss Mushfiqur Rahim, who misjudged the incoming delivery and then the one to Mehidy Hasan, which went away and took his outside edge on the way just showed why he is operating at a different level than all the other bowlers.
It was a terrific day of Test cricket with 437 runs being scored and 18 wickets falling on the day and India will hope that Bumrah, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj can bowl out Bangladesh cheaply to keep the target for the batters to chase to minimum.
