Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has hailed Jasprit Bumrah after his match-winning spell against Afghanistan in the Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday.
Pathan said Bumrah is safe as Reserve Bank of India. The gun fast bowler returned with terrific bowling figures of 3-7 in his quota of four overs to help India bundle out Afghanistan for a paltry score of 134 runs in the run-chase of 182 and register a convincing win of 47 runs.
Bumrah made the most of the slower balls and bamboozled the Afghanistan batters with his variations. The ace pacer accounted for Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Najibullah Zadran in his fine spell.
“He is like the Reserve Bank of India. He is absolutely safe. You expect him to perform when he bowls four overs in any situation. He sets up the game. How does he do that? Twelve runs had come in the first over bowled by Arshdeep (Singh), which means Afghanistan had got the momentum,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.
Bumrah got the big wicket of in-form Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the second ball he bowled and straight away made an impact.
“He (Bumrah) came in the second over and started putting an impact as soon as he came in. The wickets he took and the way he bowled in different phases, he bowled six slower balls in the first six overs, which means he sets the bowling tone. No one sets the bowling tone better than Jasprit Bumrah in world cricket,” Pathan elaborated.
Pathan continued to shower praise on Jasprit Bumrah, tipping him as India’s best bowler.
“He is the top-most in Indian bowling. He bowls good lengths. If you see his pitch map, you will get to see a cluster, the slower ones, and you will see him using the bouncer only when it’s required,” he said.
Pathan noted that India’s pack leader is also getting the ball to reverse in the fag end of the innings.
“The biggest thing in this World Cup is that when Jasprit Bumrah will come to bowl in the end, you will get to see a little reverse as well. It’s a very big factor if India have to win this World Cup. No bowler will complain. Batters might complain that they are playing during the day but all bowlers will say they are getting a dry ball,” Pathan reasoned.
Bumrah has bagged eight wickets in four matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup at an average of 6.50 and an economy rate of 3.47. India will next take on Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua on Saturday.
