India’s leading speedster, Jasprit Bumrah, has turned out to be a nightmare for the Australian openers in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The Australian opening pair, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney have served themselves on a platter to India’s “national treasure” throughout the ongoing BGT series. Venues changed, but the story remained the same, even at Australia’s ‘fortress’ The Gabba on Sunday.
Throughout the three Tests, Australian openers have struggled to churn out runs while dealing with the imposing threat from Bumrah.
On Sunday, when Bumrah once again chewed up the opening duo for breakfast, the statistics indicated the opening duo’s peril since they teamed up in Perth.
In 121 deliveries, the Australian opening duo has managed to garner just 30 runs, with a mere average of 4.28 while facing Bumrah. In reply, the Indian seamer has dismissed the duo a whopping seven times in the ongoing series.
Out of the two, McSweeney has been Bumrah’s favourite target across the three Tests. In the short-lived Test career of McSweeney, he has suffered four dismissals in five innings after facing 52 deliveries and managing 12 runs out of it while facing Bumrah.
In the ongoing third Test, the ordeal for the duo remained the same after they managed to see off a rain-curtailed opening day in Brisbane.
With Bumrah bowling in tandem with Akash Deep, wickets never looked far away from India’s reach. The morning deadlock eventually broke when Bumrah forced out an edge from Khawaja, ending his stay for 21.
In his next over, Bumrah managed to go past McSweeney’s resistance after the Australian opener’s backfoot defence ploy left him exposed.
The 25-year-old failed to cover his line and eventually edged it away to Virat Kohli, who was stationed at the second slip. Since the early two dismissals, Steven Smith has worked hard with Travis Head to recover from the damage. (ANI)
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