Bumrah’s cautious return: India aims to defend 162 without star bowler

Sydney [Australia], January 5 (ANI): After suffering from back spasms on Day 2, Jasprit Bumrah returned to lead his side from the front after Australian captain Pat Cummins rattled the visiting side in the opening hour of Day 3 at the SCG.
In the final chapter of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fatigue finally crept over India's A-lister. He left the field to go for scans and later returned to the dressing room on Day 2.
In the opening hour of the third day, Cummins forced out an edge from Jadeja, who tried to cover his line but failed miserably. The Australian skipper nipped one back in to clean up Washington Sundar for 12(43).
Bumrah stepped up on the crease to lead his side and straightaway cleared his intentions. He went for a wild swing on the first ball but was eventually outdone by Scott Boland.
Before wrapping up India's innings, Boland continued to haunt the visitors with his fiery spells. He lured Mohammed Siraj to give away an outside edge to Usman Khawaja.
Just a ball later, he clicked 133.1 kph and got enough moment to see the ball crash into the top of the leg stump. Bumrah went for a wild swing but missed the line of the ball completely. His dismissal saw India bundle out on 157, setting a target of 162 runs for Australia to chase down.
When India came back to defend its target, Bumrah didn't return to the field with Siraj taking the responsibility to start the proceedings.
He ended up conceding 13 runs in the opening over with Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas setting the tempo of the chase. Prasidh Krishna joined Siraj to push India's case in the low-scoring affair.
The 31-year-old, who has been in scintillating form throughout the BGT series, has taken 32 wickets so far, making him India's highest wicket-taker in a Test series against Australia on Australian soil.
His numbers, at an exceptional average of 12.64, include three five-wicket hauls, with a best of 6/76. In doing so, he surpassed Bishan Singh Bedi's record of 31 wickets from the 1977-78 tour of Australia. (ANI)