Perth, Australia

Australian opener Usman Khawaja feels Jasprit Bumrah’s awkward action makes him lethal but warns his side about India having plenty in their pace battery to offer than just him. With the first BGT Test starting in Perth in less than 10 days, Khawaja talked about how, at first, it’s difficult to face Bumrah, but with time of getting used to facing him, it mellows down, though the threat remains always.

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Bumrah is perhaps the best bowler across formats, and with him leading the pace attack this time Down Under, he’d again be a thorn in the flesh for the Aussies.

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"I mean, when you first face him, it's just his action. It's a different, bizarre kind of action as his release point is very different than other bowlers," Khawaja said of Bumrah on Fox Cricket, who has bowled 155 deliveries to the Aussie batter across seven Test innings but never dismissed him. 

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"It's just a bit further up. So, a lot of guys release the ball from near the popping crease. [Against Bumrah] It feels like he gets a bit further out just with his front-braced leg and pushes the ball out."

"So, it feels like it comes out and then gets there a lot quicker than you expect it. It's just once you get used to the action, it's fine. I played against him a lot. Not to say that he can't give me out first ball. I mean anyone can. But it's one of those things where once, the first time you face him, it's very awkward, and then when you get a little bit of rhythm, it gets better. But he's still a class bowler,” Khawaja continued.

Khawaja praises India’s pace battery

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Even though India will be without its most experienced seamer, Mohammed Shami, in this Test series, they still have Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and uncapped Harshit Rana to divide the workload alongside Bumrah. Praising Indian quicks, Khawaja said, "Everyone talks about Jasprit, but they actually have a lot of other good bowlers."

"I think [Mohammed] Siraj is a very good bowler. He's a very good bowler to both right-handers and left-handers. When [Mohammed] Shami was fit, when he was playing those series, he was a very good bowler. He was very underrated. No one really talked about him. And then they got good spinners lining up, too, which really complements their fast bowlers."

Explaining his thought process while facing Bumrah, Khawaja said instead of thinking about how to not get out to him, he’d look for ways to score runs against him.  

"So for me, it's never ... I'm just not thinking about Jasprit Bumrah. You want to ask me where do you think... I'm not thinking about where he is getting me out. I'm thinking about where am I scoring runs against him,” he concluded. 

Khawaja will open with debutant Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test against India. 

(With inputs from agencies)