"He's so confident with his skill set": Rohit Sharma hails Bumrah ahead of Melbourne Test

Ahead of the Melbourne Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, India skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on talisman pacer Jasprit Bumrah for being confident with his skill set. The series is currently tied at 1-1 after India secured a draw in the third Test in Brisbane. The Boxing Day Test will kick off on December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Jasprit Bumrah is the only India pacer who has shined in the ongoing BGT series. Bumrah is currently the highest wicket-taker in the series with 21 wickets at an average of 10.90. He has two fifers and one four-wicket haul in this series after the conclusion of the first three matches.

Jasprit Bumrah has played 43 Test matches and picked up 194 wickets at an average of 19.52. He has 12 fifers in the long format. The 31-year-old has an impressive record against the Aussies, he played 10 matches against them and bagged 53 wickets at an average of 17.15 and has three fifers. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rohit said that Bumrah knows what he's doing and doesn't try to complicate things.

"It's very easy not to say anything. He knows exactly what he's doing, how he operates. He doesn't try to complicate things with his own stuff. He keeps it nice and simple. He's got so much belief in his own skill set that there's not much discussion that we need to have with him. I've been watching him for a long time and I've captained him for a long time. I know how he thinks, what he's trying to do," Rohit said.

The skipper added that it is easier for him not to think too much while Bumrah is bowling.

"It makes it a little easier for me not to think too much while he's bowling. Only because he's so clear in his mind whether he gets wickets or he doesn't. He's so confident with his skill set that the conversations that happen during the game give me that confidence that I know what the guy is trying to do so there's nothing much that I can add there," he added.

Rohit added it's nice to have somebody like Bumrah in the team since it makes the job of the other bowlers easier.

"It's very simple with him and it's always nice to have somebody like him in your team when he's at that form. The job of the other bowlers also becomes a little easier. All they need to do is maintain that pressure. When it comes to him, it's crystal clear ideas and plain and simple thoughts. It makes it very easy for me. It's nice to see that a lot of people from the opposition camp talk about him, how we need to handle him. Usually those are the discussions that happen everywhere. Like I said, the impact he's had on the series so far is massive. I hope he continues to do that because these two games are very important for us," he added.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. (ANI)