"Never faced him before and thought he'll be fine" - Australian batter's huge statement on Jasprit Bumrah after BGT 2024-25

Australia opener Nathan McSweeney recently opened up on the challenge of facing World No. 1 Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). McSweeney stressed how the speedster posed a threat with his consistent line and length to trouble the batters. The 26-year-old added that his only confidence was the fact that many struggled against the ace pacer.

The remarks come weeks after Bumrah dismissed McSweeney on four out of five occasions (remained unbeaten once) in the first three Tests. The right-hander managed just 72 runs in three Tests at a poor average of 14.40 and lost his place for the last two Tests. Sam Konstas replaced him in the squad and the playing XI in Melbourne and Sydney, making the most of his opportunities, including a 60 in the Boxing Day Test.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the five-match series with 32 wickets in nine innings.

McSweeney said on the Willow Talk podcast (via India Today):

“Yeah, tough work is probably an understatement. He’s an incredible bowler. I was probably naive going into it, never faced him before and (thinking) he’ll be fine. But he’s an incredible bowler that has a great skill but just relentless ability to pitch the ball in the area where you don’t want as a batter.”

“So, it was a very tough challenge but also gave me a hope that no one kind of had great success against him and everyone was trying to tackle him at the same time and no one was playing him with ease, which gave me a little bit of confidence,” he added.

Despite losing his place in Australia’s squad during the 2024-25 BGT series, McSweeney made a comeback for the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. However, Travis Head opened alongside Usman Khawaja in the two Tests against the Islanders.

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Jasprit Bumrah set to miss first few matches for MI in IPL 2025 - Reports

Jasprit Bumrah will miss the first few games for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. As per ESPNcricinfo, Bumrah is yet to completely recover from his back injury, which he sustained during the fifth Test of the 2024-25 BGT series. He will likely miss MI’s first three fixtures in March.

The 31-year-old is expected to join the squad in early April. He also recently missed out on the 2025 Champions Trophy, which India won.