“It’s sometimes difficult to pick a XI because all of them are confident and all of them play well in the nets. As a captain, I couldn’t ask anything more. All of us had the same dream to play for India and I don’t think too much about expectations. If you play with that baggage, you’re under pressure. You have to learn to manage the expectations and keep it on the side,” Bumrah said during the post-match presentation.
Bumrah, who himself is making a comeback to international cricket with this series after a long 11-month injury layoff, reiterated that he is feeling good and is happy to be back.
“Feeling good. Today, I could run in and bowl a little faster. We wanted to put runs on the board and we thought the pitch would get slower. It did get slower. Happy to be back and couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Bumrah added.
Young India batter Rinku Singh announced his arrival at the international stage with a breathtaking knock of 38 off 21 balls in the match. The left-hander smoked three maximums and two fours while scoring his runs at a strike rate of 180.95.
For his cameo, the confident Rinku was adjudged Man-of-the-Match on Sunday.
“I was confident and trying to use the IPL experience. Was trying to take the game deep. Been playing cricket for ten years and getting rewarded for the hard work. Happy to get the Man-of-the-Match award in the first game I’ve batted in international cricket,” Rinku said.