NEW DELHI: Former Australian pacer Damien Fleming expressed surprise over Jasprit Bumrah's aggressive response to Sam Konstas during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. Fleming noted that Bumrah's reaction seemed to inspire his teammates before Usman Khawaja was dismissed off the last ball of Day 1.
The incident unfolded during the final over when Bumrah objected to Khawaja taking his time, prompting Konstas to intervene. Bumrah's rare display of aggression caught Fleming's attention.
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"I've never seen Bumrah react like that. So he sparked something in the Indians that not a lot of people have. And when he [Konstas] batted, he didn't look like he was fazed from all the chat from the Indians," Fleming wrote in his column for The Roar.
Fleming also praised Bumrah's remarkable performance throughout the series, where the pacer claimed 32 wickets. He argued that Bumrah deserved the Player of the Series award, though Travis Head, with his 448 runs, was also a strong contender.
"Bumrah deserved to be player of the series with 32 wickets, but there's an argument to say that Travis Head won this trophy," Fleming added.
The former pacer emphasized the impact of India's lack of a third specialist seamer, highlighting the absence of Mohammed Shami as a key factor in their series loss. Despite this, he commended Mohammed Siraj for his 20-wicket haul.
"Bumrah is an absolute star, probably the greatest touring fast bowler that I've seen. Mohammed Siraj probably showed that he's a handy back-up bowler. But they need that third seamer – they really missed Mohammed Shami."
Fleming was impressed by Prasidh Krishna's performance in the final Test, where he took six wickets, and expressed optimism about his potential. "Prasidh Krishna was good with his six wickets in Sydney and he might get better with more Test matches," he remarked.
The Australian also identified Nitish Kumar Reddy as the standout discovery for India during the series. "Reddy is a player they've discovered who is very technically correct, and Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown he will be a star for the next decade or more," Fleming concluded.
