A photo shoot with the Border-Gavaskar trophy brought together two of the world’s best fast bowlers and over the next few days they will determine the course of cricket.
Captaincy is usually the domain of batsmen. Their workloads allow them room to work on tactics and team management, and the division of labor is arguably a little easier. When you’re in the crease, you only have to worry about scoring runs. As a bowler, you are planning your spell – R Ashwin says he sequences 25 balls at a time – you are concentrating on millions of minutiae – line, length, pace, variation – it can be exhausting to keep an eye on the big picture.
Bumrah, however, maintains that the big picture is simply the natural next step of the entire process of bowling and that it comes with quite an interesting benefit.
“I can handle myself better when I’m the captain,” he said on the eve of the first Test in Perth, “because I know when I’m fresh, I know when I have to push myself and I know when I have to push myself.” Take on additional responsibility. Obviously, yes, there are different challenges, but there are also advantages. I look at the advantages, I understand the bowling. You understand where the wicket is changing, what changes you have to make, what fielding sets are good at this. moment Obviously, bowlers do a lot more. Based on research and data, as well as hitters, because that’s how the game is run, so I look at the positives more than the negatives. “Obviously there will be challenges and you want to be tested and you want to have challenges.”
Bumrah took up cricket because the experience of fast bowling caught his attention. As he has grown in stature, first taking on the senior bowler position and then wider leadership roles, he has been eager to do more. He might also be excited by the fact that not many people have taken the path he follows, even if it is temporary, given that Rohit Sharma is expected to join the team before the day-night practice match in Canberra in the finals. November.
India’s only other fast bowling captain, Kapil Dev (played 34, won 4, lost 7, tied 1, tied 22), was more of an all-rounder. There are others who come with the same asterisk: Shaun Pollock (P 26, W 14, L 5, D 7), Ben Stokes (P 29, W 17, L 11, D 1) and Jason Holder (P 37, W 11) . , L 21, D 5) being notable examples. Wasim Akram (L 25, W 12, L 8, L 5) and Courtney Walsh (L 22, W 6, L 7, L 9) not only captained their respective countries, but also had the opportunity to take the lead so fast. -Bowling captains against each other in 1997. There haven’t been too many occasions for that part of history to repeat itself. At the start of 2024, Cummins took on Tim Southee’s New Zealand and now, eight months later, he is front and center for Bumrah.
Cummins is a little more advanced in its dual role than its counterpart. He was named captain without doing much at national level, but his Australian teams have had enormous success, particularly last year when they won the World Test Championship, retained the Ashes and also became ODI World Cup winners.
It took him a while to get into this rhythm. “I would say yes, maybe, you know, maybe a summer or so,” Cummins said. “So maybe a year, maybe, you know, 10 test matches or so. I think until you feel completely comfortable.” [with the dual role].
“But I don’t think it changed too much during those 10 test matches. Your intuition gets a little stronger. But, you know, even when I was really new at this, I’ve gotten wonderful, you know, teammates and staff who are helping you so you never feel alone.
“The question is always, are you playing too much or not enough? That’s always the question, which, yeah, again, it’s a gut feeling. Talk to other people and make a decision.”
Bumrah will have the same kind of support – he made his Test debut under Virat Kohli in 2018 and spent a lot of time with Rohit Sharma since his IPL debut in 2013 – but he is also keen to break out on his own.
“So I spoke to Rohit,” Bumrah said about the captaincy, “but when we came here, I had a little more clarity because he was also not sure about his situation at that time. But yes, when I came here then the coach [Gautam Gambhir] and the management gave me clarity that I will lead this game.
“My way is that you have to find your own way, you can’t blindly copy anyone. Obviously they are both very successful and have achieved a lot of results. But in my way, I have never followed a copy plan in terms of also in my game of bowling, if you can see, I have never followed a module, I follow my instincts. That’s how I have always played cricket and I have a lot of faith in my instincts and my instincts to go with and tactically as a bowler, You always make a lot of plans. You are very aware of what to do, what adjustments you have to make during the game of cricket. So yes, I look at it this way and try to cover all the bases as much as I can.”
Australia have played five Tests at Optus Stadium and won all five. They have a very stable side over the last three years of Cummins’ captaincy, which he found a bit “strange” considering international sport tends to generate quite a bit of turnover. India are facing that rotation at the moment, starting this tour after a 0-3 home loss to New Zealand and having to create an XI with a couple of first-choice players absent.
Bumrah has been doing his bit to address this discrepancy between the two teams. “The message I would give them is that I always believe in the self-confidence that is there,” he said. “Because right now, the way cricket is going, everyone has played a lot of cricket. On that day, if you think you are good enough, you can have an impact. It doesn’t matter if you have played 100 Test matches or 50. Test matches, It depends on what is happening inside you.
“When I came here [in 2018] It was only my second tour. But in my head I wanted to make a difference and I wasn’t looking. I have no experience. I was looking at myself, how can I contribute? And if I believe I can do it, then I will make a difference. So that’s the message I want. They have also died.
“A lot of players come to Australia for the first time, but they have a lot of first-class cricket, IPL experience and international experience behind them. The players have now learned to handle the good days and the bad days. On the good days, it’s not that we go too high and, similarly, we must also learn to deal with the bad days if we have to play international cricket. Those are the conversations we have been having. Moving forward is the most important thing in our preparations. from scratch, get used to the conditions, get used to the climate and focus on what you need to do to be successful here.
