Bumrah hails Nehra’s return for T20Is against Australia

Ranchi, Oct 6 (IANS) On the eve of Indias first T20 International against Australia, India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah welcomed the return of veteran Ashish Nehra to the squad, saying the left-arm pacer brings with him a bag full of experience.

Addressing reporters ahead of the tie, Bumrah recollected his playing days with Nehra.

"He's a very experienced player. I've played some cricket with him. I've played in World Twenty20 with him. It's really good to have him in the side," the 23-year-old said.

"It's lot of fun. He has loads of experience to share. He's very helpful for youngsters like me. The team's atmosphere becomes good when he comes to the side. It feels great to have him back in the side."

On having established himself as India's premium fast bowler in the limited-overs formats in a short time, Bumrah said: "When you are playing for India, you don't need any kind of (extra) drive because you are very happy."

"Any format, you love representing your country. Whenever you are playing for India, you have a responsibility, you have to live up to it," said Bumrah, who is currently the world No 2 bowler in T20Is.

With India set to play six One-day Internationals (ODI) and nine T20 Internationals this year, Bumrah along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to carry the lion's share of the workload in the pace bowling department.

Explaining their strategies ahead of the games, Bumrah who have formed a lethal opening and death bowling combo with Bhuvneshwar, said: "We just want to improve ourselves every time, we keep asking questions to each other. We keep learning from the senior players on what else we can do and how to improve, how to adapt to different conditions and the wickets."

"The focus is on training. We don't focus on results. We want to get better every game."

Going into the first T20I, India are on a six-match winning run against Australia but Bumrah said they are not thinking about past records.

"We only focus on our preparations. Every format requires a certain skill level and we are focusing on that," he said.

After comfortably pocketing the ODI series 4-1, India will look to extend their dominance over the Aussies in the three 20-over games. The first match will be hosted at the Jharkhand Cricket Association (JCA) International Stadium here on Saturday.