Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah: Different styles, common goal

India pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are contrasting to each other with the ball in hand. Off the field, they have a lot in common, both being soft-spoken and humble about their achievements.

If Kumar has a beautiful, conventional and smooth action, Bumrah's style of bowling is completely unorthodox and difficult to imitate. If Kumar is the Sultan of Swing, Bumrah is dangerous with his deceptive lengths.

The duo not only causes troubles for the batsmen with the new ball, but are equally effective in the death overs with their deadly yorkers.

Both enjoy each other's success. But, what matters to them is their team winning. Individual successes hardly matter.

Ask Kumar about bowling with teammate Bumrah, and he is all praise: "He's got a unique action and because of that action, he's so effective. It's not all about his action. It's about his hard work that he has put in the past 5-10 years. What he practices in the nets and how he prepares himself is something I learn from him. It's fun when you (both) take wickets. We talk a lot. We talk a lot."

On the other hand, Bumrah says he has learnt a lot from his senior pro. "We communicate a lot. As soon as we begin to bowl our overs, we talk to each other about the conditions and what should be our approach. If the ball is swinging or should we go for wickets, what variations to use as per the conditions, etc. This communication is throughout the game – at the beginning and in the end.

"He's known for his swing and his control. When you play attacking cricket, you need control. If you have good control, only then will you be successful in today's cricket. Once you're able to create pressure from both the ends, it's always beneficial for the team. So, we are always learning from each other."

Both agree in terms team's wins superseding personal success. "We're happy as long as the team is winning. It's not a personal goal," says Bumrah when asked if there is a fight between the two as to who gets more wickets. Kumar nods in agreement.

Coming down to Bumrah's unorthodox action, the Gujarat bowler is happy with the way he bowls and it doesn't matter to him if anyone thinks he is injury prone.

"I don't focus on what the experts are saying. I focus on what has helped me and I try to focus on what to do to keep myself fit. There's not a perfect action in cricket. Tell me a bowler who has not got injured. There's no bowler. I don't focus on all these things.. I focus on what development I need to do in cricket and how to improve my fitness levels," says Bumrah.

Before Bumrah's success in Tests, he was perceived as a limited-over specialist, and the pacer cares less about the same. "People have not seen me play a lot of first-class cricket. In fact, I made my India 'A' debut in 4-day cricket first. So, just because people have not seen me, you can't label a bowler. I just focus on the situation. If I'm playing a white-ball match, I see what are the conditions and what the team needs me to do.

Similar in red ball cricket. I don't focus on people's perceptions," he adds.

Even as the Australia tour looms around, Kumar is aware that the conditions won't favour seamers due to change in nature of wickets. "It'll be very challenging. When we play away from home, we need to adapt to the conditions. Will not be easy for the bowlers because there's hardly any movement now-a-days. But right now, we're focused on the Windies series, knowing that our preparations here will prepare us for Australia."

Bumrah, however, is not looking that far ahead. "There's always bounce but Australia is known for high-scoring grounds as well. But right now, I'm not focussed so far ahead. I'm focused about the next match I'm playing in. That's always been by philosophy and whenever I reach Australia, I'll assess the wickets. Because, sometimes, whenever you go there with preconceived notions, they turn out different," Bumrah says.

'Australia Won't Be Easy'

The absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, under suspension due to Sandpapergate in South Africa, have weakened Australia. But, Kumar doesn't think so.

"They don't have these two batsmen (Steve Smith and David Warner), who have done well over the years. There are other batsmen in their places and it's not that they aren't good. It's their home conditions. For us, if the two were there, it's a challenge. Now that they are not there, still it's a challenge. When you play at a certain team's home, things are easy for them as they are playing years. I won't say that because they are not there, it would be easy for us. If it would have been easy, we would have won the series (in the past). It won't be easy," he says.

Both seamers are happy with the break that the BCCI gave them after a long and tough England series. "Always good to take a break. Whenever you take a break, the hunger is back. Body is fresh again and you are in good spirits. Freshness is back," Bumrah says.

Kumar, too, is happy. "Breaks are important. Mentally, you are tired. Rotation policy is good. During breaks, we train. There's family life, too, because it matter a lot," he says.

Kumar has often shown his batting skills when it mattered. He reveals he takes his batting seriously. "I don't care about tags of an all-rounder. I know that I can bat. Whenever I get the chance, I will bat. Especially in Test matches because you get more time. But I'm working to improve my batting too."