42 deliveries. 32 dot balls. 2 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah was exceptional against Pakistan as he played a vital role in propelling India to a thumping seven-wicket win in their third match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Saturday.
Against Afghanistan, Bumrah took four wickets on a wicket where other bowlers were being spanked. India captain Rohit Sharma had blazed away to a record century on a belter in Delhi but it seemed as the pacer had bowled on a different surface.
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Pakistan were expected to give India a stiffer challenge but Bumrah was all geared up and their batters found scoring against him nearly impossible.
No wonder, he was picked as the player-of-the-match.
“It felt good. Usually you try to analyse the wicket as soon as possible. We realised the wicket is on the slower side so we wanted to bowl hard lengths. We were trying to make it as difficult as possible,” Bumrah said during the post-match presentation.
Bumrah opened the attack for India alongside Mohammed Siraj with the latter proving expensive in his first two overs.
When asked how he ends up judging the nature of a pitch so quickly, Bumrah said, “Just being aware I guess. I used to ask a lot of questions when I was young and that helps me now. Now I’m experienced. In my younger days they (seniors) were used to being troubled by me sometimes ( with questions), but it helps to read the wicket and try different options.”
Bumrah produced a terrific delivery to dislodge a well-set Mohammad Rizwan on 49. He changed the pace and bowled an off-cutter that left Rizwan flummoxed as it beat him on the inside edge crash on the off-stump.
“We were bowling in the middle (during the practice) and I saw Jaddu’s (Ravindra Jadeja) ball was turning, not too much but a little bit. I count my slower ball as a spinner’s slower ball, one of those days where it came off,” Bumrah said.
With the win, India have jumped to the top spot of the cricket world cup points table and they will next take on Bangladesh in Pune.
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