Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion in India’s line up was a bold call from Virat Kohli, going in sync with his mindset of picking in-form players, no matter the reputation or the format.
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While many would have predicted Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma to start the first test, Virat Kohli had different ideas.
Rohit Sharma was picked in place of Ajinkya Rahane, owing to his brilliant form in the limited overs and Test series against Sri Lanka.
Bumrah too was selected due to his superior form in the limited overs format for the past 2 years. And he justified his selection big time, removing the dangerous AB de Villiers in emphatic fashion, going through the gate and dislodging the stumps to tilt the game in India’s favour.
Earlier in the day, Bhuvi ran through the South African top order, dishing out some delicious swing bowling.
AB de Villiers then led the charge for South Africa’s revival, and along with Faf du Plesis, he put the pressure right back on the Indians.
Bumrah, though, kept plodding along, hitting the right lengths and asking questions off the batsman at regular intervals.
Finally, Bumrah got through the defences of ABD, getting a ball to jag back and hit the top of off.
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India are currently in the driver’s seat, with 7 wickets down for South Africa and would be hoping to wrap the tail up quickly in order to stamp their authority on day 1.
