India vs South Africa | Virat Kohli gives bowlers complete freedom, reveals Jasprit Bumrah

For the longest part of his career, the pacer was seen as a white-ball cricketer due to his innate ability to bowl those famous yorkers. However, the 25-year-old, who was handed his Test debut in 2018, has been quite a revelation in the longest format of the game. While admitting that it was his dream to play all formats at the highest level, Bumrah went on to add that skipper Virat Kohli’s backing has helped bowlers become even better in international cricket. 

"You must have seen on TV how Virat leads from the front with his performances. He backs all his teammates … gives his bowlers a lot of confidence. He gives you complete freedom to bowl the way you want to bowl, to express yourself. It feels good when your captain has that kind of belief in you," Bumrah said, reported TOI.

"I'm very happy. I started playing Test cricket a year back and playing all three formats was my dream. I always wanted to play Test cricket. It's been a good journey. I'm learning from the experience that I've gained by playing in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies. India will be a different challenge, which I'm looking forward to."

In his debut series in South Africa, Bumrah kicked off his Test career by scalping 14 wickets in three matches. He followed it up by replicating the same numbers while touring England before torching Australia claiming 21 wickets at an average of just 17. The best, however, was yet to come. After a disappointing World Cup campaign for Team India, the pacer landed in the Carribean and the Windies found themselves on the receiving end of a Bumrah special. Over the two-match series, Bumrah claimed an astonishing 13 wickets at an average of just 9.23 which included a 5/7 in the first Test.  

"I haven't mastered it (outswinger). I always had the outswinger. I've not used it a lot, but bowling in England, where the Dukes ball swings for a long period of time, and playing more and more Tests, gave me a lot of confidence. I was able to execute my skills because of these factors," Bumrah explained.

When asked about how hard he had to work to perfect the yorker, the pacer replied, "It's not just that delivery. (To execute) any other delivery, I do a lot of hard work. There's a lot of work that goes behind the scenes. I've to practice extra to execute each and every delivery. So, I try and tick all the boxes before I leave the practice arena.”

With 12 Tests under his belt, Bumrah will finally get a taste of international red-ball cricket at home when South Africa come calling. Bumrah, however, said that he is already used to the Indian conditions having played a huge part of his career in India and added that he prepares for every match based on the conditions on offer. 

"Each and every series is challenging. I have played all my life in Ranji Trophy cricket in India. So, these are not new conditions for me," he added.

"I prepare a lot before any match or tournament. I do a lot of homework. I try to assess the conditions. I try to ask questions to the seniors about what they think about what I'm planning. I try to listen to these things, filter it out, so that (I can judge that) these are the things that I can do, and these are the things that I can't do."