India pacer Jasprit Bumrah believes that if one debacle dents the team's confidence then it "does not deserve" to play Test cricket. His comments come after India's 72-run defeat inside four days in the opening Test against South Africa at Newlands earlier in the week.
"Confidence is not dented after one match. If it happens, then you don't deserve to play. Learn from the mistake you made and go forward. There is not a single cricketer who has not made a mistake," insisted Bumrah, who took four wickets in the match.
"It was a first good Test and a good learning experience for me because I have never played over here in South Africa. So I had a lot of things to learn from. Now it is time to move forward and focus on the second Test."
Bumrah said he would rather pick the positives, including getting AB de Villiers as his first Test wicket.
"It was not a dream debut. I was happy with whatever I learnt from that match. As a bowler you look to get the first wicket early and I got AB de Villiers.
"It was a happy moment, and from there on, we took a lot more wickets. As a bowler, my motto is not to get too excited and not to get too down after every match. I want to take confidence into the next match."
Bumrah had a mixed first outing at Newlands. He was taken for runs in the first innings at a time when India needed to keep South Africa quiet, but roared back to form in the second innings and triggered the hosts' 65/8 collapse on day four.
Bumrah explained what brought about the improvement. "It's always challenging whenever you come to a new country. The wickets are different and the weather is different. So it's always good to face new challenges. As you play more and more, you get to know a lot about the wickets. You get a fair idea about where to bowl and what kind of lines to bowl. It's been good so far. I am still learning and hopefully in the further matches, I will be able to do better," he said.
Bumrah also acknowledged that Indian bowlers erred in reading the bounce in the South African first innings, which yielded 286 runs for the hosts.
"We realized what mistakes we made in the first innings, so (on day four) we were trying to create pressure from both ends and focus on our lengths which were wrong in the first innings.
"We just tried to correct them and not overdo things because over here when there is help from the wicket, you try to do extra but that won't help. So we were just trying to be disciplined and stick to the basics," he said.
When asked about the moment he was made aware of his Test debut, Bumrah said, "There was a general discussion that I would play the match. So I started talking to our bowling coach what kind of things I should do, what kind of wickets are over here and what I should expect."
The Gujarat pacer said he was not nervous when his debut cap was handed to him.
The second Test starts in Centurion on Saturday.
