The Indian speedster feels elated to be back at Newlands in Cape Town, a place where his Test career has started four years ago.
Reminiscing the happy memories of receiving his India Test cap at the iconic venue, the 28-year-old posted an emotional message on his official Twitter handle.
“Cape Town, January 2018 – is where it all began for me in Test cricket. Four years on, I’ve grown as a player and a person and to return to this ground brings back special memories,”
he tweeted on January 9.
India unleashed Bumrah, their limited-overs ace, in Test cricket in Cape Town for the first Test of their 2018 tour of South Africa. Back then, he had conquered the white-ball arena but was yet to warm up to the red-ball game at the highest level.
The Gujarat pacer had a prior experience of 30 first-class matches and had been told about his potential Test debut in South Africa a few months prior, as revealed by the then head coach Ravi Shastri. But Test cricket is an entirely different game.
Bumrah looked a touch nervy in the decisive first innings of the game and conceded 1/73 off his 19 overs. But he returned swiftly in the second half, bagging figures of 3/39. Two Tests later, Bumrah picked his maiden Test five-fer in India’s win in Johannesburg, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Today, Bumrah is regarded as one of the best modern-day Test match pacers with 107 scalps in 26 Tests at an average of 23.24, including six five-wicket hauls.
Apart from making his return to Cape Town count, Bumrah also has a point to prove to few of his naysayers after a disappointing outing in the previous Test of the series where he failed to come to the party in the second innings when India were defending 240.
The pacer had a poor outing by his standards. He bowled a reasonably okay spell of 1/49 but then conceded 0/70 off his 17 overs in the final innings.
With the series level 1-1, India need their ace to be back to his very best for the upcoming decider.
