India vs South Africa: Jasprit Bumrah didn't get the desired support, says Rohit Sharma

India captain Rohit Sharma believes Jasprit Bumrah didn’t get the desired support from his fellow seamers in the first Test against South Africa at the SuperSport in Centurion. The skipper said there was no reason for the team to concede 400-plus runs on a seamer friendly surface and it is something that his side could learn from the hosts.

India lost the opening Test by an innings and 32 runs inside three days after scoring 245 and 131 in the two innings but seeing the hosts score 408 runs to put the game beyond their reach.

Except Bumrah, who took four wickets, rest of the bowlers struggled to make an impact with Shardul Thakur and debutant Prasidh Krishna getting a hammering.

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“This was not a 400-run wicket and we gave too many runs. We sprayed the ball all around, but it happens. One can’t depend on one particular bowler (Bumrah), the other three pacers also needed to perform their roles, we could learn from how South Africa bowled,” Rohit said after the match.

He admitted that there wasn’t lack of effort from the Thakur, Krishna and Mohammad Siraj but Bumrah couldn’t alone keep the pressure.

“Bumrah bowled well and we all know his quality. All he wanted was a bit of support which he didn’t get. That happens. All three tried hard, bending their backs but didn’t happen the way we wanted to. But games like these teaches you a lot as to what you want to do as a bowling unit,” the skipper observed.

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Young Prasidh, who has played just 12 first-class matches, couldn’t get the measure of bounce and carry in Centurion and went for 93 runs in 20 overs on Test debut. The skipper conceded Prasidh is a bit undercooked but also insisted that his team would show faith in him.

“Of course, he is a little bit inexperienced. He has got the tools to come out here and play the game. Obviously, if I look at the bowlers that we have back in India, some of them are injured, some not available, so we tried picking guys who are available, based on conditions,” he reasoned.

“I completely agree that he (Krishna) hasn’t played a lot of (red ball) cricket but there are three guys in their team also, who haven’t played a lot of (red ball cricket) but they showed what is required.

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“More than what’s there in the legs, I think it’s in the mind. How you treat your mind and how you play the game is more important. If you think that oh, I haven’t played, lot of Tests or first-class cricket, then it’s not going to help,” the skipper was clear.

“When you get an opportunity, you should be grateful and come out and do the job for the team. Obviously, it didn’t work out well for him and playing your first game, we all would have been nervous, he would have been nervous as well.

“These things happen, the guy has game to excel but we will back him and has a great attitude about his game which holds us in good stead going forward.”

Batters need to devise own gameplan

Each and every batter has unique technique and it is imperative when they come for challenging assignments like South Africa, they have a customised game plan, Rohit said, citing KL Rahul’s example.

“Look at what KL Rahul did in the first innings. It is a perfect example of showing intent as well as respecting the conditions. At end of the day, he scored at a strike-rate of 70 and he put the bad balls away. That is what we talk about intent.”

While he didn’t take names but he certainly wasn’t amused in the manner Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill tackled conditions.

“We can’t just go and swing our bats. That’s not the conditions to do that. You got to understand that there is a thin line between showing that intent and discipline as well,” Rohit said.

“Every individual is different and we try talking to every individual in the way they want to play and keeping conditions in mind, what they can do. It’s a mixture of everything, intent, little bit of discipline and you can’t just go with one mindset in these conditions.”