Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah disclosed that he experimented with an assortment of deliveries until he found the one that yielded result on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh, as the lack of grip on the wicket rendered his stock balls ineffective. (More Cricket News)
Despite the lack of assistance from the pitch, Bumrah emerged as the top bowler for India.
The talismanic pacer wreaked havoc returning with the figures of 4/50 in Bangladesh's first innings on Friday. He bowled length balls, bouncers and yorkers.
"I had no other option because when I tried to bowl a length ball, the ball wasn’t doing anything, and the ball wasn't reversing either," Bumrah told the official broadcaster after the end of play on day two.
"So, I had to try something because, as a bowler, you have to experiment when there's not much happening.
"There was no grip on the wicket, so I used one of those tactics that I've used in domestic cricket as well. It worked today, and that experience helped me out.”
He set up Mushfiqur Rahim tactfully. Bumrah bowled a back-of-a-length delivery on the sixth stump line, forcing an inside edge off of Rahim's bat that went flying into the hands of KL Rahul in second slip.
"The ball had become a little old, there wasn't a lot of movement, but there was some spongy bounce on the wicket," Bumrah said.
"So, I was trying to assess my options because when I tried to bowl a little fuller, there wasn’t much deviation.
I was just trying to think about how I could make run-scoring difficult. That's what I focused on, and luckily, I got the outside edge," he said.
Bumrah also turned to bouncers, a delivery he scarcely employs in Test cricket.
"In Test cricket, I don’t usually bowl as many bouncers. Given the weather was harsh and I’m just getting back into Test cricket, I had to make adjustments.
"The ball had become wet because of sweat, and the seam was also wet. So, I had to use different options to get a wicket and make run-scoring difficult. These are things you learn as a lower-order batter too.”
Bumrah revealed that the chat with skipper Rohit Sharma was that everyone will bowl short effective spells keeping in mind the harsh conditions.
"He understands the bowlers very well. The weather was harsh, and everyone is coming back after a while - we’re playing a Test match after some time, so everyone needs to get into the groove.
"The chat was about short spells to make them effective. We have fast bowlers who want to bowl fast and spinners who can create an impact.
"When the ball is new, the seam is hard, and there is some lateral movement, so we wanted to keep coming back quickly and bowl short spells," he said.
"The plan wasn’t necessarily to bowl fuller because there was no consistent swing. Some balls swung, and some didn’t.
"So, we quickly adjusted angles, and I came around the wicket. But yes, with the new ball, there was some assistance, and we focused on that."
India will begin day three on 81/3 with a healthy 308 run lead.
