India’s hero, Jasprit Bumrah, said the Newlands pitch was a “new-ball wicket” and it was important that the pace bowlers make the most of it when they had the opportunity.
Bumrah, who claimed 5-42 in 23.3 overs of disciplined, hostile bowling with his unusually short run-up and catapult action, said that the pacemen had to “make the most” of the conditions when they had the red cherry in their hands.
Bumrah said that it was also important for the bowlers to communicate with each other about tactics when the ball got softer with the emphasis more on accuracy and applying pressure by drying up the runs.
“It worked well for us today because we got together to discuss what was working and what wasn’t. There was a period in the afternoon when nothing much was happening and we had to be patient to keep things in check.”
The Newlands pitch has been extremely difficult for batsmen to survive on when the ball is hard, with steep bounce and extravagant seam movement available to the bowlers early on.
Bumrah said he wasn’t much concerned about the lack of crowds at Newland because most of his first-class domestic cricket in India lacked spectators.
“All of my motivation comes from inside, not externally although of course it’s nice to play in front of big crowds,” he said.
He revealed that his short, stuttering run-up and catapult action was influenced by learning tennis-ball cricket as a child. “There were benches along the lines so you couldn’t jump over the benches while running in to bowl. So we had to make do with the space we had.”
He added that when he first played professional cricket he tried a longer run-up but didn’t notice any increase in pace.catapult “I just got tired more quickly,” he laughed. “So I decided to keep my original action and use it to my advantage.”