India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who grabbed the player-of-the-match award on his international return, on Friday said he was not nervous and never felt he “missed out a lot”.
Bumrah last featured for India exactly 327 days back in a bilateral T20I series at home against Australia.
A back injury would rule him out from the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, with the pacer undergoing surgery and beginning a prolonged rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy.
“I was not really nervous but very happy to be back,” Bumrah, who returned with 2 for 24, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
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“When you’re captaining you are thinking more about the whole team and not just your own performance.” Captaining a second-string side against Ireland in Malahide here on his comeback, Bumrah led India to a two-run win over Ireland by DLS Method in the first T20I of the three-match series.
“I felt very good. So many sessions I did at the NCA, didn’t feel I missed out a lot or was doing something new,” he said.
“Credit to the staff there, they kept me in good spirits. You are not thinking about yourself, you are thinking about others out there.
“I think the IPL also helps. It is always good, wherever we go, they support us, that helps us to keep the spirit high.” Opting to field, Bumrah had a perfect start, grabbing two wickets and giving away just two runs in his first over.
“There was some swing upfront, so we wanted to use it. Luckily, we won the toss and it was coming out fine. There was some help due to the weather, so very happy.” Ireland, however, took India to the cleaners in the back end when they scored 54 runs off five overs to lift them to a respectable 139 for 7.
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“In every game, you would want more. They played well, after a crisis, they played well, credit where it is due,” Bumrah said.
“Even when you win, there are areas to improve on. Everybody is very confident, they are very well prepared.” The loss meant Barry McCarthy’s 51 not out from 33 balls batting at No 8 went in vain.
“Always nice to contribute to the team. Disappointed to not go over the line,” he said.
On his partnership with Curtis Campher, he said: “We knew we could put a score on the board. We are both aggressive players and we wanted to stay positive.
“I think playing the positive way brings the game into the hands of someone who is going to get you to a score.
“Taking the game to the opposition is the best way. Happy to contribute to the team no matter what position I bat in,” he signed off.
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