SA vs IND 2024: Newlands will always hold a special place in my heart – Jasprit Bumrah after India’s win

India’s gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was delighted after the team’s convincing win of seven wickets against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town on Thursday. India registered their first win at Newlands and also became the first Asian team to do so.

Meanwhile, Bumrah had made his Test debut at the same venue back in 2018 and had picked up a total of four wickets against the Proteas.

On the second day of the second Test match, Bumrah was at his absolute best as he once again delivered the goods for the team. The ace paceman returned with impressive figures of 6-61 in the second essay to help India skittle out South Africa at 176.

Bumrah accounted for Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi in his fine spell. Furthermore, Bumrah bagged two wickets in the first innings.

The Indian spearhead scalped a total of 12 wickets in two Test match series at an impressive average of 12.92 and also finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series. Thus, he shared the Player of the Series award with Dean Elgar, who top-scored in the series with 201 runs in three innings.

Jasprit Bumrah said in the post-match presentation, “This ground will always hold a special place in my heart. It was always a dream to play Test cricket and the journey started here, there’s always fond memories of my first game. Very happy that it went well today as well. That journey started in 2018 – our bowling unit was experienced and we wanted to create an impact.”

Speaking on India’s fast bowlers taking giant strides at the top level, Bumrah added, “We knew that if we want to do well in foreign conditions, we’ll have to bowl a lot more and consistently. In India, the spinners do a lot more work. The vision started from there. Our team is also going through a transition. Lot of the bowlers have been changed, but the message is still the same, you have to keep fighting. It’s not easy playing in South Africa, different conditions, the crowd is also something.”

He continued, “We fought it out in the last game as well. It’s difficult to keep coming at it because it requires a lot of strength and patience. If you lose it, in one session, the game goes out of your hand. We are very happy that we were able to do it in this game. I didn’t expect the game to go this fast, I have never played a shorter Test match in my life. Looking at the wicket on the first day, nobody really thought that this much was going to happen. We wanted to bat first as well. Test cricket gives you surprises. Very happy that we got our first win (in Cape Town), a great series and a fighting series.”

India will next face Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series.