Jasprit Bumrah opens up about his tussle with Marco Jansen during the Test series against South Africa

The Test series involving South Africa and India wasn’t without its fair share of controversies. The DRS call regarding Dean Elgar’s dismissal in the final Test was the cause of much ire from the Indian team and captain Virat Kohli who went overboard with their emotions. However, that was far from the only talking point of the series.

Another incident involved a heated altercation between Mumbai Indians pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Marco Jansen in the middle of the pitch. During the second Test at the Wanderers, Jansen and Bumrah had a go at each other while the latter was batting. The youngster fired a few bouncers towards Bumrah which drew his flak and was followed by a heated verbal exchange.

At the media interaction ahead of the ODI series, the Indian bowler was asked about the incident and he mentioned that he doesn’t shy away from showing his passion while playing cricket for India. “I love this sport. I have wanted to play since I was a child. All the emotions show how much love and passion I have for the game. Obviously, I played with Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL, we are good friends but sometimes on the field, things get heated.”

Jasprit Bumrah also mentioned that the incident between the two players happened in the heat of the moment. There was nothing personal about it and it was left on the field.

“You play for your country, you are not going to back down for anyone and obviously, he plays the same way as well. There are no hard feelings, it just happened in the heat of the moment,” said Bumrah.

21-year-old Marco Jansen made his Test debut in the series against India and managed to impress heavily. The lanky left-arm seam bowler picked up 14 wickets across the three matches and played a key role in South Africa’s conquest.

“Obviously, felt good to have gotten a chance in the Test team and then to contribute to the side’s cause. I did not expect to do that well in the series. Very glad that we won the series 2-1. India has not won a Test series in our conditions, glad that we could maintain that record.

“But we are not underestimating India at all, India is one of the best teams in the world so we have to bring our A-game. We are looking to take the fight to them. We have to be as prepared as we can, a series win against India would be big,” Jansen said about his success and the goals of the team.