Jasprit Bumrah defends India bowlers amid lack of support chatter in India vs Australia Test series in BGT 2024-25

India vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah defended India bowlers amid discussions of lack of support from the other end in the ongoing Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Out of 40 Australian wickets that have fallen so far in this series, Bumrah has accounted for 18 out of them while rest were shared among Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Siraj, who is bowling with a niggle as revealed by Bumrah, is the second successful Indian bowler so far in the series with 18 wickets. Defending his bowling attack, Bumrah stated it is his job to help the team which is in a transition.

"As a bowling unit, as I said, we are in transition so it's my job to help the others. I have played a little more than them so I am trying to help them," Bumrah told media after Day 3 of the third Test was called off due to bad light and five rain interruptions.

"Everyone will learn through it, will get better and eventually will find different ways so this is the journey that you'll have to go through," added the owner of 191 Test wickets in just 43 Tests.

Playing in Australian conditions is challenging for all the other teams in the world, especially if you have so many youngsters in the squad. For India, who won the previous two BGTs on Australian soil, have disappointed with their batting, save second innings in Perth Test, with a shoddy show as compared to what they actually on paper.

Asked if the flop show by the batters is putting pressure on bowlers, Bumrah denied. "We have 11 players, it's not like that. I don't look at it that I have to do extra (work). As I said, we are a new team, a lot of new players have come into the side. We have to be considerate and give them that cushion that they will learn from experience," he said.

"Nobody is born with all the experiences, nobody is born with all the skills. You keep learning, you keep finding new ways (and) you keep learning about your own game," he continued.

Rain spoils party in Brisbane

With the series locked at 1-1, India are in a do-or-die situation as far as race for the World Test Championship (WTC) final s concerned. Meanwhile, the ongoing Brisbane Test is likely to be heading towards a draw after more than four sessions were lost due to rain in the first three days.

After only 13.2 overs were possible on Day 1, the third day too saw as many as six interruptions with more rain forecast on offer in the last two days of the game. In reply to Australia's 445 all out, India are reeling at 51/4 when bad light forced early stumps on Day 3.