Bhuvneshwar Kumar admits he wasn't expecting to pick up 5 wickets

Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates after picking one of his 5 wickets on Friday

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was delighted with his bowling performance on the 4th day of the 3rd Test but said he did not expect a handsome return in his comeback Test match. His 5/33 broke the West Indies backbone and bowled them out for 225 runs thus giving India a lead of 128 runs. At Stumps, on Day 4 India managed to stretch their lead to 285 runs and will be hoping to add some quick runs on the 5th morning to give a shot at West Indies batsmen.

Kumar who was playing Test cricket after a year and a half was a bit nervous when he came to know he would be playing the match.

“There was no pressure as such but if you are playing after so long there are some nerves, whatever format you play. If I play in club cricket even then I have some nerves. But when I came to the ground and bowled the first ball everything felt normal,” Kumar said.

“Maybe because I was thinking only about the process and focussing on that came from practice. I practice the way I am bowling in the match but it is not easy to sit outside for so long and then come back. It is not frustrating always, but it is not easy either.”

The fast bowler was quick to add that the swing was key on day four.

“The biggest point was that the ball was swinging and when that happens it is a boost for me. I have a better chance to take wickets,” Kumar said. “After lunch, I could do that and when you get one wicket you get the confidence that you can bowl further. When I was bowling it was the same in my mind that these are the 7-8 overs in which I can take wickets. I did not think I would take five wickets but that comes with the momentum.”

West Indies were in command of proceedings before Kumar wreaked havoc and West Indies collapsed like a pack of cards. From 202/3 they were bundled out for 225. Kumar bowled 10.4 overs on the trot and took 5/14 in his hostile spell as the hosts lost their last 6 wickets for a mere 23 runs.

“We had a talk within the team if we can get them out before tea we will have enough time to get them out twice. We discussed our plans and we knew what we had to do. After lunch when I got the first wicket I knew that this is the time if we can get one or two wickets we can get them out.

“So our mindset was such that we had to get them out quickly if we had to win the match,” the medium pacer said after the day’s play.

Bhuvi said it will be difficult to predict whether he will get the swing going on Saturday.

“If you see earlier in the first innings, I did not get as much swing. Maybe the wicket was a bit damp. Today I got a lot of swing, maybe the ball was a good one. It is tough to predict for tomorrow, but there is something in the pitch for the bowlers so I think we can get them out again,” he added.