NEWS
Follow UsAn honest Usman Khawaja admitted after the victory in the fifth Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) that it would have been an ‘absolute nightmare’ facing Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth innings and revealed that Australia’s belief increased multifold once they knew the visitors wouldn’t have their skipper at their disposal to help them defend 162.
Across the first nine innings of the series, Bumrah had taken a ridiculous 32 wickets at 13.06 and had the entire Aussie batting line-up on a string. But he suffered serious back spams after bowling 10 overs in the first innings at SCG and could eventually not bowl in the contest because of the niggle.
The development proved to be a huge boost in the arm for Australia, who ultimately chased down 162 in just 27 overs, losing just four wickets.
“You never wanna see anyone injured, and it’s a shame he was, but thank god for us. Because today would have been an absolute nightmare facing him [Bumrah] on that wicket,” Usman Khawaja told ABC Sport.
“You can see what a big part of the [Indian] team he was. And everyone felt it. As soon as we didn’t see Bumrah out there, we had this sense of feeling that, ‘alright, we’ve actually got a chance here’.”
Personally, Khawaja had a torrid time in the series, amassing just 184 runs at an average of 20.44. The left-hander passed the 25-run mark just twice in the entire series, struggling to buy runs.
Reflecting on his series, Khawaja asserted that he’d been ‘Bumrah-ed’. Khawaja faced Bumrah in nine innings in the series and got out to him a whopping six times, averaging just 5.5.
“To be honest, I was just getting Bumrah-ed,” Khawaja said.
“Like it was friggin’ tough work. It was tough work. People were asking me what’s going on, and I’m being honest: I was getting Bumrah-ed. I had to face this guy with the new ball every single time.”
Khawaja further asserted that Bumrah is, without question, the toughest bowler he’s ever faced and spoke about how the 31-year-old has upskilled immensely since his first tour of Australia back in 2018/19.
“He’s the toughest bowler I’ve ever faced,” Khawaja said.
“I faced in 2018 and I think he only got me out once. He was always good, he’s a very good bowler, but he’s been something else this year.
“The wickets have definitely helped his cause but he’s six years more mature, he’s a better bowler, he understands the skills, he understands who he’s bowling to, he has different plans for everyone.
“I always feel like no matter how good a bowler is, they’ll give me something to score off but I never felt like I could score off Bumrah. It was just so hard. It’s easy for me to say now because I don’t have to face him again, thank god.”
