'You are not going to back down while playing for your country' - Marco Jansen breaks silence on heated exchange with Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa’s young sensation Marco Jansen unfolded his opinion on the altercation with India’s fast bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. The left-arm seamer proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the Indian batters as he extracted a lot of bounce and pace from the South African pitches and accounted for the dismissals of India’s experienced batters on most occasions. Jansen picked up 19 wickets in three Tests at an average of 16.47 and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the series.

Jansen in the second Test had peppered Bumrah with a lot of short deliveries and it did agitate the Indian bowler while he was batting. Both these players have shared the dressing room for the Mumbai Indians in the 2021 season but it did not stop them from going through a heated exchange on the ground. The umpires had to intervene to reduce the intensity and there was a lot of talk over the incident from the experts. Bumrah had the last laugh as he dismissed Jansen with a peach of a delivery and stared at the batter with a smile showing his world-class skills.

It just happened in the heat of the moment: Marco Jansen

Jansen mentioned the nervousness he had in the first innings on his debut as he gave away a lot of boundaries with half volleys. He staged a better comeback in the second innings where he picked up a four-wicket haul. He noted that he wants to express himself a lot more while he is in the crease and revealed his love for the game.

“The first innings of the first Test sums it up really well. I did not start the way I wanted to and I was very nervous. It is normal for every player to get nervous. Off the field, I am a chill guy, I am an introvert but when I am on the field, I want to express myself.”

“I love this sport, I have wanted to play since I was a child. All the emotions show how much love and passion I have for the game. Obviously, I played with Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL, we are good friends but sometimes on the field, things get heated.” Jansen told in the press conference

Jansen added that he takes a lot of pride in playing for the country and doesn’t like to back down even if it is his IPL teammate, Bumrah. He concluded that there was nothing much to investigate on the heated exchange and felt the heat of the situation had taken over.

“You play for your country, you are not going to back down for anyone and obviously, he plays the same way as well. There are no hard feelings, it just happened in the heat of the moment (on altercation with Bumrah in the Johannesburg Test),” he added