[Watch] Jasprit Bumrah imitates Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling action in the nets ahead of Cape Town Test

Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah decided to have some fun in the nets ahead of the Cape Town Test against South Africa as he imitated off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling action in a rather accurate manner.

India will take on South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in the second Test of the two-match series starting Wednesday. The visitors’ hopes of registering their maiden Test series win in the Rainbow Nation went up in smoke as they succumbed to an innings and 32-run defeat in the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

India have been working hard in the nets ahead of the Cape Town Test to win it and square the series. In the midst of it all, Bumrah provided the team with some light-hearted entertainment by mimicking seasoned spinner Ashwin’s bowling action during a practice session.

Star Sports’ X handle shared a video of the Indian fast bowler imitating the offie’s bowling action with the caption:

“Hey Ash, is that you? 🤔 @Jaspritbumrah93 could fool anybody with this uncanny imitation of @ashwinravi99 in the #TeamIndia nets! 😂 Name another bowler you'd love to see the pacer mimic. 😉.”

Bumrah was the standout bowler for India in the opening Test of the series against South Africa in Centurion. The right-arm pacer registered figures of 4/69 in 26.4 overs. He got the wickets of Tony de Zorzi and Keegan Petersen before cleaning up Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger.

The other Indian bowlers, however, struggled to make an impression as South Africa put up 408 in response to India’s first-innings total of 245. Shardul Thakur registered figures of 1/101 from 19 overs while debutant Prasidh Krishna went for 93 runs in 20 overs, claiming one wicket.

Mohammed Siraj picked up 2/91 in 24 overs, while Ashwin ended with figures of 1/41 from 19 overs.

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Will India alter bowling attack to try and assist Bumrah?

Indian captain Rohit Sharma made it clear that they cannot depend on one bowler to win a Test match. He, however, also backed the inexperienced Prasidh, stating that he might have been nervous on debut.

At a pre-match press conference, Rohit hinted that they might not make too many changes for the second Test in Cape Town. They do not have a lot of options as well, especially in the bowling department. Mukesh Kumar could come in for Prasidh and a fit Ravindra Jadeja might replace Ashwin in the playing XI.