"It ended there" - Jasprit Bumrah opens up on tiff with Marco Jansen after Day 3 of 3rd India vs South Africa Test
Jasprit Bumrah played down last week's on-field altercation with Marco Jansen and the palpable nervous energy that has followed in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. He said the argument 'ended' in Johannesburg and the duo had "moved on in life", with their present focus only being on the match at hand.
Bumrah and Jansen, former teammates at the Mumbai Indians, were involved in a heated exchange in the middle of the pitch in the second Test. The incident took place after the South African hit Bumrah on the body with a few bouncers. The Indian pacer got his revenge on Wednesday by softening Jansen with a short-ball barrage and then clean-bowling him for 7. He even followed it with a cold stare, but no words were exchanged.
At the post-day press conference, Bumrah was asked to talk about their chats. He replied that they haven't had any on-field tiffs or "even eye contact" in this Test, adding that both teams are trying to play the way they want to. He said:
"I don't remember having any conversation with him even once (in this match). Whatever happened in the last game, it ended there and we have moved forward in life. In this game, I don't remember having a discussion or even eye contact with him. But yeah we are focussing on what our team has to do, the opposition can do whatever they want to do. We are trying to follow our processes and our contributions to get the team to a good position."
Boooooom💥💥
Dear Jansen don't mess with Bumrah..💥
@Jaspritbumrah93 you beauty 💞
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Bumrah not only got Jansen out but also took four more wickets to register his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket. His blistering spell of 5-42 helped India get the hosts out for 210, 13 runs short of India's first-innings total.
"Nothing out of the ordinary" - Jasprit Bumrah on what fired him up
From Centurion to Cape Town via Jo'Burg 👌 👌
The tradition continues 👏 👏
#TeamIndia | #SAvIND https://t.co/lioDrrX2Wq
Bumrah's fifer was even more special following his lackluster outing with the ball in the previous match, with critics starting to write him off.
But the pacer didn't attribute his improved performance to this criticism, saying he didn't pay "any extra" attention to it in the leadup to this Test and kept his focus intact on his usual preparation.
The 28-year-old said:
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I was just focussing on what I had to do, my routines and my processes... or whatever has to be done when I prepare for a Test match. Nothing out of the ordinary, I was not giving any extra attention on I was not really too angry. I was just focussing on what I had to do and trying to be in the present."
India came back with a 70-run lead at stumps on Day 2, with Virat Kohli (14 off 39) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9 off 31) standing solid at the crease.