For a brief moment on Saturday afternoon, the entire Indian dressing room held its breath.

Jasprit Bumrah, the best bowler in a generation, went down clutching his adductor midway through his 20th over at Adelaide Oval, with multiple members of India’s support staff rushing to his aid.

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It could have been a series-defining moment, but thankfully for the tourists, the Indian quick returned to his feet following the brief medical intervention, bowling a further four overs in the match.

“Bumrah is completely fine,” Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel told reporters at stumps.

“It was just a case of cramps. Even after the incident, he continued to bowl and picked up crucial wickets for us.

“Test cricket is tough, and there’s no place to hide.”

The injury scare, albeit minor, underscored Bumrah’s importance to this Indian team — without him in the starting XI, India’s bowling attack looks considerably less intimidating on paper.

The 31-year-old has averaged 9.20 including ten dismissals when bowling to Australia’s seven recognised batters in this series, while India’s other bowlers have averaged 42.09.

Mohammad Siraj has been impressive in bursts, but half of his wickets in Adelaide were Australian tailenders, while fellow seamer Harshit Rana hardly posed a threat during the pink-ball Test.

Meanwhile, the absence of veteran paceman Mohammed Shami, who is recovering from an ankle injury, has heaped further pressure on India’s bowling stocks.

“Coming into the series, the uncertainty for India was what the support act for Bumrah is like,” former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist told Fox Cricket’s The Follow-On podcast.

“Siraj and Rana did a really good job in Perth, but they just weren’t up to that same level in Adelaide.

“That still is the glaringly obvious part of that discussion. Bumrah is at a certain level, and the rest of them aren’t quite there.”

Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist joins the Follow On Podcast to review Australia’s scintillating 2nd Test victory over India in Adelaide. LISTEN BELOW

Bumrah’s short run-up allows him to conserve energy and bowl lengthy spells. However, he only produced one over during Australia’s brief run chase at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, with his speeds ranging from 121.2km/h to 131.3km/h.

Whether the champion bowler was conserving his energy or showing signs of fatigue is unclear, but because the Adelaide Test wrapped up in less than seven sessions, he’s been allocated an additional two days to recover before the next match at the Gabba.

Speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference on Sunday, Indian captain Rohit Sharma discussed the balance of managing Bumrah’s workloads throughout a gruelling five-Test campaign while turning to him for crucial breakthroughs when required.

“When he has a spell, I talk to him. I ask him how his body is feeling, is he fresh or not,” Sharma explained.

“In a five-match series, we want Bumrah to play all the matches and remain fresh. So, it becomes important to analyse all this when you are playing a Test match. How much workload is there? How much is not there? It becomes important to manage all this.

“You can’t expect that Bumrah will bowl from both ends from morning to evening. So, it’s very important for bowlers to manage.”

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Sharma also backed the other Indian quicks to step up when Bumrah doesn’t have the Kookaburra in his mitts.

“It’s a great thing to have someone like Bumrah, but he’s not the only one who’s going to get the job done every time,” Sharma continued.

“The other guys have to take that responsibility. Siraj, especially, along with Bumrah, when he got those four wickets (in Adelaide on Saturday) as well, the responsibility was shared, and that is what we look forward to.

“There are times where Bumrah will not get wickets and the other guys need to step in. It’s not about just one individual or two individuals. If you want to win the Test match or series, everyone needs to share that responsibility of putting their hand up and getting the job done.”

Sharma flagged the possibility of Shami jetting down to Australia for the final two matches, but the 34-year-old’s availability is anything but a certainty. Therefore, if Bumrah missed one of the remaining three matches, there’s a decent chance Siraj would be tasked with leading India’s pace attack in his absence.

However, the right-armed seamer won’t just be battling the 11 Australians on the field – courtesy of his Adelaide antics, the crowd will also be firmly against him.

Siraj cemented his status as public enemy No. 1 in the South Australian capital following a series of on-field misdemeanours — he threw the ball at the stumps after Marnus Labuschagne backed away from a delivery on Friday evening and performed a comical celebrappeal for an LBW chance against the Queenslander the following morning, only for replays to confirm a thick inside edge.

But the Adelaide crowd ramped up the heat when Siraj gave centurion Travis Head a send-off on Saturday afternoon, relentlessly booing the Indian bowler for the remainder of the match. As ‘wanker’ chants echoed in the picturesque venue, he had officially become the series’ pantomime villain.

Sharma attempted to shield Siraj from the rowdy patrons by hiding him at point rather than sending him to fine leg, while Bumrah was seen giving his teammate a consolatory pat on the back.

Barring a drastic change in attitude from the Australian public, Siraj will continue to be bombarded with a tsunami of boos for the remainder of the campaign — how he copes with the backlash could define his series.

“He likes to get into the battle,” Sharma said of Siraj.

“It gives him success. And as a captain, it’s my job to back that aggression.

“Obviously there is a fine line between that. We don’t want to cross anything that can bring dispute into the game. But obviously, having a word or two with the opposition is not a bad thing.

“That’s what gets him going. In the past, we have seen so many cricketers who like that battle, and Siraj is definitely one of them.”

Gilchrist agreed: “He’s a bowler that likes to be in the contest, psychologically get himself into a place where he think he’s in bit of a dogfight, a bit of a scrap with an opposition player.”

Siraj has already proven capable of succeeding in the face of adversity. Following the Head dismissal, he helped clean up the Australian tail and finished with commendable figures of 4-98.

Four years ago, after becoming the central figure of a racial abuse storm during the New Year’s contest at the SCG, Siraj led India to a famous victory at the Gabba, claiming a maiden five-wicket haul in his second Test.

Sharma brushed aside concerns about how the Australian crowd would affect Siraj over the coming weeks.

“I don’t think it matters too much,” he said.

“All our guys are used to playing in such big crowds. Things go well, they support. Things don’t go well, they don’t support. That happens everywhere.

“Siraj knows what he needs to do for the team and he will do everything that is required.

“Leaving the external factor aside, his job is to take wickets and he will do everything he can to try and get wickets for his team.”

The third Test between Australia and India gets underway at the Gabba on Saturday, with the first ball scheduled for 11.20pm AEDT.