"It's not that he wasn't injured today" - Irfan Pathan lauds Jasprit Bumrah's spell on Day 1 of BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Irfan Pathan has lauded Jasprit Bumrah for bowling an 'incredible' spell on Day 1 of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test. He pointed out that the ace Indian bowler put in his full effort despite being seemingly injured.

Bumrah registered figures of 3/75 in 21 overs as Australia ended the first day (Thursday, December 26) in Melbourne at 311/6 in their first innings. Akash Deep (1/59), Ravindra Jadeja (1/54) and Washington Sundar (1/37) were the other Indian bowlers to pick up a wicket.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan praised Bumrah for trying his best despite not being fully fit.

"We saw incredible effort. He is the No. 1 bowler but you always praise the energy he shows. It's not that he wasn't injured today. He was holding his calf at times and was repeatedly touching the side and stretching. He even went inside in between. However, he came back and bowled again. His attitude is incredible," he said.

However, the former India all-rounder opined that Bumrah could have bowled better to Sam Konstas.

"The only thing was today morning, which I said before the match as well, that when a 19-year-old boy was making his debut, you could have targeted his stumps more. If that had happened, Australia might not have got the momentum at the start," Pathan explained.

"I felt Bumrah could have done that job. Bumrah has that ability and that is why we have expectations from him. If we see the first four or five overs, there were hardly any balls that were hitting the stumps. He was slightly behind there only, but apart from that, Bumrah had another amazing day today," he added.

Jasprit Bumrah went wicketless and conceded 38 runs in his first spell of six overs. Sam Konstas scored 34 runs off the 33 deliveries he faced from the unconventional seamer.

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"Travis Head's wicket was the most important" - Sunil Gavaskar on Jasprit Bumrah's spell

In the same discussion, Sunil Gavaskar was asked about Jasprit Bumrah needing to do the heavy lifting again.

"You always have the expectation from him that he will give you a breakthrough and, if not that, when there is a partnership building, he will break that, and that's what he did. I feel Travis Head's wicket was the most important," he replied.

While highlighting the significance of Travis Head's wicket, the former India captain added that Mitchell Marsh virtually gifted his wicket to Bumrah.

"The way he dismissed Travis Head, that tilted the game slightly in India's favor. It's still not tilted but I would say it's 60 percent with Australia and the rest 40 percent with India. After that, Mitchell Marsh plays like this only as though it's a T20 match. He would score runs if he is successful," Gavaskar observed.

Bumrah first had Usman Khawaja caught by KL Rahul at midwicket for a 121-ball 57. He then castled Head (0 off 7) before having Marsh (4 off 13) caught behind by Rishabh Pant to finish with three wickets on Day 1.