"Whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward" - Robin Uthappa's huge take after AUS vs IND 2025 2nd T20I

Former India player Robin Uthappa has noted that the Men in Blue could have been more competitive in the second T20I against Australia had their bowlers picked up a few wickets with the new ball. He noted that Jasprit Bumrah becomes slightly wayward whenever he is desperate for wickets.

India suffered a four-wicket loss in the second T20I against Australia in Melbourne on Friday, October 31. Suryakumar Yadav and company were bowled out for 125 after being asked to bat first, with the hosts achieving the target with 40 deliveries to spare.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Uthappa was asked about his thoughts on India's loss.

"When we were bowling after scoring 125, the start was very important. If we had picked up two or three wickets in the first three or four overs, the game could have been closer because we have quality spinners in the middle overs. I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets. So we got a little wayward," the former India opener responded. "I have observed that whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward, and when he is disciplined and hits a good line and length, he mostly picks up wickets. Australia took full advantage of that waywardness at the start, the way we started with the ball in the second innings," he added.

Jasprit Bumrah registered figures of 2/26 in four overs in the second T20I against Australia. However, he went wicketless and conceded 23 runs in three overs with the new ball, including a delivery way down the leg side that went for five wides.

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"The batters could have given themselves a little time" - Robin Uthappa on India's batting in AUS vs IND 2025 2nd T20I

India suffered a top-order collapse in the second T20I against Australia. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Robin Uthappa termed India's batting performance disappointing, highlighting that they were overaggressive in their approach.

"Slightly disappointing, because you had obviously lost the toss, but the batters could have given themselves a little time. They chose the aggressive batting option and they lost too many wickets in the first six overs because of that," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Abhishek Sharma had to hold the innings together after the powerplay overs, with Harshit Rana being the only player to support him.

"Abhishek had to manage the innings after six overs. He had a good partnership with Harshit, but apart from that partnership, no batter stood with him, so that India could have scored at least 150. This team will get a lot of learning from this. This young team will have to understand that there is a slight extra bounce here and they will have to adjust their game plans accordingly," Uthappa observed.

India were reduced to 49/5 after 7.3 overs at the fall of Axar Patel's wicket. Although Abhishek Sharma (68 off 37) and Harshit Rana (35 off 33) stitched together a 56-run sixth-wicket partnership, the visitors then lost their last five wickets for 20 runs to be bowled out for a below-par score.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer