Jasprit Bumrah urges patience with India team ‘in transition’

Brisbane: Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah urged India fans to show patience with his team after a disappointing showing on Monday in the third Australia Test in Brisbane.

At stumps on a rain-affected day three India were 51-4 at the Gabba, still needing another 194 runs to avoid the follow-on.

India won the first Test in Perth comfortably but were crushed by 10 wickets in the second in Adelaide with the pink ball.

Bumrah, easily the visitors’ star man so far in the series, said it was difficult for the players to come out to Australia and play in such different conditions from what they are used to.

New players

Three of the seamers used by India so far — Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana — had not played a Test in Australia before the tour.

“We as a team are going through a transition as new players are coming in and it’s not the easiest place to play cricket over here,” Bumrah, the 31-year-old vice-captain, said.

“It’s my job to help the others. I have played a bit more than them so I am trying to help them.

“We are a new team, new players have come into the side and we have to be considerate that they will learn from experience.”

Lot of improvement

Bumrah pointed out that the last time India toured Australia, when they won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the team had more miles on the clock.

“But this is the journey that every team will go through,” he said.

“All these experiences will help them and they will see a lot of improvement going forward.

“This is something all players go through. Nobody’s born with all the experience, nobody’s born with all the skills.

“You keep learning, you keep finding new ways and I’m sure you will get better.”