'Be nice, disciplined and make run-making difficult' - Bumrah's message to the team

India romped to a massive 295-run win on Monday (November 25) over Australia in Perth, outperforming the hosts in all facets of the game. But at the innings break on Day 1, it looked all doom and gloom for the visitors as the batting order collapsed to be bowled out for 150. It began to raise questions on whether India would pose a noteworthy challenge to Australia Down Under. And they did more than that, as the bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah had Australia on the mat in the first innings, bowling them out for 104.

Bumrah said that he passed on the message to his bowlers to be accurate in line and length and not be too desperate to go for wickets. Debutant Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj paid heed to their skipper's words, and by the end of Day 1, the trio had picked up seven wickets for only 67 runs.

"The message was that sometimes when you are bowled out for a lower score, you can be a little too desperate and you could go pole hunting. So that was the message that when you try too much over here, it doesn't really help and the run-scoring goes high.

"So the message was, we will be nice and disciplined and we will make run-making as difficult as we can. Because that is what has worked in the past over here as well. And when we are able to do that, that gives us a lot of success."

He credited the bowlers as well for finding the right lengths and not getting distracted with the extra bounce on offer on Australian decks. The bowlers stuck to bowling at a little fuller than the back-of-a-length mark and weren't induced to bowl short to the batters.

"Usually in Perth, there could be a scenario where when we come from India, the bounce is not as prominent as what is here. So you tend to bowl a little short, you can get excited by the bounce and you can't find the length. It looks good when you bowl a back of length delivery and the batsman gets beaten, but the batsman is still there.

"So you have to find the right length. And as I said, we knew that if you make them play more, there is enough in the wicket to give us assistance. So we were focussing on our strengths. We, as a bowling unit, do get a lot of dismissals with bowled LB(W) and caught behind. So we realised that you have to stick to your strengths and find the right length over here. And we were able to do that."

Bumrah led India to a historic win in Perth in only his second Test match as captain, leading from the front with the ball in hand. He ended the match with figures of 8 for 72 and was duly named as the Player of the Match. He was pleased with his first win as captain and always banked on providing his insights to the team in case of any pressure situations.

"Obviously, a special win, first win as a captain. Very happy about that. And more happy with the performance of the team. That yes, we were put under pressure and then the character was shown. Obviously, whenever tough scenarios come, I look at myself and how can I contribute. Even when I am not the captain. So whenever tough scenarios are there, I look at answers that... Okay, if I am going to bowl at this moment, what can I do? So in this moment, we were a new side.

"So I automatically wanted to put myself in tough scenarios whenever we needed to do something. I was trying to put myself in that tough scenario to make the job a little bit easier for the new guys coming in. Because it is not very easy in the first goal to take a lot of responsibility."

In the post match interview with the official broadcaster, Bumrah was thrilled with the performance and how the team handled the pressure after being bowled out for 150 in their first innings after having won the toss and opting to bat first. The fast bowler took notes from when he played on the same ground in 2018 on how the pitch would play. He felt that the pace and bounce of the deck would gradually increase after a few sessions of play which was visible as Australia struggled in their two outings with the bat under the fading light.

Bumrah added that he wanted his team to have faith in themselves after India's first innings and emphasised that if a player has faith in themselves, special outcomes can be achieved. He also credited the 10-12 day preparation camp India had leading into the first Test which allowed them to also get acclimatised with the conditions.

"Yeah, very happy with the beginning you know, we were put under pressure in the first innings but the way we responded after that, I'm really proud of the team. I played here in 2018 so I remembered that when you start here the wicket is a little soft and it becomes quicker and quicker later. Obviously, this wicket was a little less spicy than the last one I played on here. But we were really well prepared so I was just telling everyone to have faith in their process and ability because over here at this moment, we had an opportunity to do something special. So on a given day, experience does matter but if you have faith in your ability, you can do something special."

He briefly touched on opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and deemed his 161 as the batter's best Test hundred so far. He credited the change in technique after Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and how he curbed his attacking nature and strokeplay.

"Jaiswal, I think out of all his innings, he has had a great start to his career but the last innings was probably his best Test innings so far. He left the ball, he has an attacking nature but he left the ball well and played long."

Virat Kohli was the second centurion for India with his 30th Test ton and despite a string of poor scores, Bumrah sided with the batter and said you can't judge a batter's form completely if they play on challenging wickets and the skipper hopes that this knock helps Kohli build confidence leading up to the remaining Tests.

"On Virat coming back in form, I didn't see him out of form at all because sometimes you play in challenging wickets and it's difficult to judge if a batsman is in form or not. But he was looking very good in the nets so hopefully he will build on his confidence and go from strength to strength."

For Australian skipper Pat Cummins however, it was a disappointing start to the big summer for the hosts. He admitted that despite what they thought leading up to the series was good preparation, it was one of those games where nothing seemed to go right. He felt Australia seemed to let slip a key moment in Day 1 with the bat in the last session, and were also lacking in the other facets as well during the entire match.

"Fairly disappointing, we thought our prep leading into the series was good. Everyone was firing. It's just one of those games where not much went right. We didn't give ourselves a chance - a few different facets. Late on Day 1, if we had got through that period, things would've been different on Day 2."

With approximately 10 days to go for the second Test, Cummins admitted that he would have liked the game to be a lot sooner after a crushing defeat but will now take a few days off before reaching Adelaide and commencing training for the next Test.

"It is what it is (on the 10-day break). After a loss, you want to get back on the horse pretty quickly. But we'll take a couple of days rest and get into Adelaide."

The two teams will square off in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide from December 6.