Sydney [Australia], January 6 : Usman Khawaja entered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy untroubled by the prospect of facing Jasprit Bumrah. In fact, the Australian opener had never been dismissed by Bumrah in their previous seven Test innings encounters. Khawaja even believed that the Indian pacer became easier to handle with more exposure.
However, the series told a different story. Bumrah dismissed Khawaja six times in eight innings.
"To be honest, I was just getting Bumrah-ed," Khawaja told ABC Sport after Australia regained the BGT in Sydney, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"It was friggin' tough work. It was tough work. People were asking me 'what's going on?' I'm being honest, I'm just getting Bumrah-ed," he added.
Bumrah dominated the series, claiming the highest wicket tally with 32 wickets at an astonishing average of 13.06, earning him the "Player of the Series" award. Despite his brilliance, Bumrah bowled in only nine innings and missed Australia's second innings at the SCG due to back spasms.
Taking advantage of Bumrah's absence, Australia secured a six-wicket win on a challenging pitch. Khawaja acknowledged that Bumrah's unavailability gave the Australian team more confidence on the tricky surface.
"You never want to see anyone injured and it's a shame he was, but thank God for us. Because today would have been an absolute nightmare facing him on that wicket," Khawaja said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"And you can see what a big part of their team he was. And everyone felt it. As soon as we didn't see Bumrah out there, we had this sense of feeling that we've actually got a chance here," he added.
Calling Bumrah "the toughest bowler I've ever faced," Khawaja praised the Indian pacer's significant progress since his debut tour of Australia in 2018-19.
"He was always good, he was a very good bowler [in 2018]. But he's been something different this year," Khawaja remarked.
"It looked like he's just got his tail up," he added.
"The wickets have definitely helped him, but he's six years more mature, he's a better bowler, he understands his skills. He understands who he's bowling to and he has different plans for everyone," he said.
"I always feel like no matter how good a bowler is, they'll always give me something to score off. I just never felt like I could score off him. It just felt so hard. I've never found someone so hard to score off and get off strike as Bumrah and you always feel like he's got a wicket ball up his sleeve," he noted.