Usman Khawaja on getting ‘Bumrah’d’, Travis Head on facing the ‘best individual performance since I started playing Tests’ | Cricket News

Travis Head recalled the moments soon after it became apparent Jasprit Bumrah would not be able to bowl on Day 3 of the Sydney Test. “I think there were 15 people (the Aussie squad) that were pleased Jasprit didn’t bowl, but that is the way it pans out,” Head told Fox Cricket host Mark Howard.
It underlined just how jittery even the Aussies were right onto the last inning, even if they were chasing a spiffley target of 162 which they eventually reached comfortably.
Head had begun the series well getting Australia its first win after the Perth loss, but had tapered off subsequently before he found himself at the crease with Beau Webster after Sone early wickets. Still, the Aussies were far from panicking – and the only reason was Bumrah had a stiff back.
The South Australian lauded the opponent stressing how difficult he had been to face through the series. “I think there were 15 people (the Aussie squad) that were pleased Jasprit didn’t bowl today, but that is the way it pans out,” he told Fox. “He has had a hell of a series. It has been probably the best individual performance I have seen in a series since I started playing Test cricket,” he added.
Usman Khawaja who had found the Sydney pitch downright treacherous to navigate, too admitted he had been on the knife edge on the ‘stinker’ wicket, after being tormented Bumrah throughout the series.
“I felt like I had the right intent but I was just getting Bumrah’d. It was friggin’ tough work,” he told ABC Grandstand. “You never wanted to see anyone injured, and it’s a shame he was, but thank God for us because today would have been an absolute nightmare facing him on that wicket. Everyone felt it, as soon as we didn’t see Bumrah out there we had this feeling that ‘alright, now we’ve got a chance here’,” he added.
Khawaja joked he was glad now that he never had to face Bumrah again, but the unorthodox pacer was a recurring nightmare. “It just felt so hard. It’s easy to say now because I probably won’t have to face him ever again, thank God. I’ve never actually found someone so hard to score off and get off strike as Bumrah, and then you always feel like he’s got a wicket ball up his sleeve,” he was quoted as saying ABC.

Good form, great form were all quite irrelevant when Bumrah ran into them. “It didn’t matter how many runs you were on, if you got Bumrah in the wrong conditions, you needed a little bit of luck, show a bit of intent, hopefully you can get through his spell, but it was very tough,” he ended, speaking to ABC Grandstand.

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