INDIA'S fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has earned praise from Australia’s Travis Head, who described him as "one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game."
Head made the comments ahead of the second day-night Test in Adelaide, which begins on Friday.
Bumrah, who is set to hand over the captaincy to regular skipper Rohit Sharma for the upcoming Test, was instrumental in India's dominant 295-run victory in the opening match of the series in Perth, claiming eight wickets.
With the pink ball and freed from leadership duties, Bumrah is expected to pose an even greater challenge to the Australian side.
"Jasprit is probably going to go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game," Head said in a press interaction. "We're finding that at the moment, how challenging he can be, and it's nice to play against that. It's going to be nice to look back at your career and tell the grandkids that you faced him, so it's not a bad series to play in with him. But hopefully, I only have to face (him) a few more times. He's been challenging."
Head, who scored 89 runs in Australia's second innings in Perth, will return to familiar surroundings at the Adelaide Oval for the second Test. Despite the heavy loss in the first match, he expressed confidence in his preparation and focus.
"It's just another week -- go and prepare and go in fresh and hopefully I can roll out the same sort of performances," he said. "It's going to be a challenge, but I feel like I'm moving well, feel like I'm in a good space, and go out and try and execute that."
Reflecting on the first Test loss, Head acknowledged that the team quickly realised they were outplayed and shifted their focus to upcoming challenges.
"The writing was on the wall pretty quickly in that Test match that we were pushing it uphill," he said. "So for me, it was reflecting in-game what we could have done better by the time that result had come. (It's) a pretty easy one as such to move on and get over, and start talking about what's coming."
(With inputs from AFP)
