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Hyderabad: Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his Test debut in Chennai.
But that was hardly the ideal surface for the swing master to display his art. The bone-dry track was the playground of the spinners and Bhuvenshwar didn’t manage to take a single wicket in that match.
He was therefore hungry to do something in Hyderabad. With the pitch assisting initially, he was a happy man after playing a key role in restricting Australia on Day I of the second Test, here, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
“It was my dream to play Test match for India. I was very happy to get my first Test wicket. All the three wickets that I took were satisfying. Warner, Cowan and Watson — each of them are capable of scoring big runs as we’ve seen in the past. So I’m really very happy with my effort.
“It couldn’t have been better than this,” Kumar said.
The 23-year-old stressed on making full use of the first hour, which normally offers some assistance to pacers. “I tried to make the most of the first hour because that’s the time when something may happen in favour of a fast bowler.
“So I just concentrated on bowling at the stumps. Overall, the wicket is on the slower side, with the odd ball keeping low. So you need to keep attacking the stumps,” he pointed out.
During the course of the game, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made both Kumar and Ishant Sharma bowl mainly from the Visaka End – the end from which Kumar took all his three wickets. Kumar, however, ruled out chances of bowlers getting an extra bit of help from that End.
“There’s nothing specific happening. We bowled mainly from that End as spinners were operating from the other.
“Besides, we did so only because we were asked to. That’s it,” was his prompt reply.
Kumar felt the pressure spinners create in this part of the world, makes things a little easier for the quicks. “With spinners dominating and putting pressure on batsmen, it helps a pacer in taking a wicket or two,” he said.
Kumar said he owes a lot to senior partner Ishant. “I’m learning a lot from him. He helps me a lot, especially during international matches,” he said, adding: “Ishant, too, bowled quite well today. Now, there isn’t much support for pacers especially in these kind of pitches.”
When asked about Australia’s decision to declare with still a wicket in hand, Kumar commented: “It’s absolutely their decision. They might have thought since they can’t score many runs given the position they were in, it’s better they declare and try to take at least a wicket today. So the decision wasn’t really surprising.”
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