Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan reckons Jasprit Bumrah should have been the Player of the Match ahead of Sanju Samson after India won the T20 World Cup semifinal against England by seven runs at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday.
Bumrah returned with impressive figures of 1-33 in his quota of four overs when all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners. The gun fast bowler foxed England skipper Harry Brook with a slower delivery as Axar Patel took a brilliant catch while running back.
Furthermore, Bumrah conceded only six runs in the 18th over when England needed 45 runs off the last three overs as he nailed his yorkers.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “According to me, Jasprit Bumrah should have been the Player of the Match. If you watched the game, you would have noticed that every other bowler had an economy rate of around 10. Some were even above 10 or close to 15. On such a flat pitch, 500 runs were scored. The one who performs the difficult job in such conditions is the real Player of the Match (Yeh mard hai bhai). That is a real character. The kind of work Jasprit Bumrah does is exceptional. He bowls the toughest overs.”
“Once again, when he came to bowl, the first batter he faced was Harry Brook. He did not try to bowl fast because he has a brilliant cricketing mind. He trapped Harry Brook with a slower ball right away. Bumrah could have bowled a yorker or a bouncer on the first delivery and played on his ego thinking, ‘I am Jasprit Bumrah.’ But he does not do that. He understands the pitch, the conditions, and he reads the batter very well. He knew Harry Brook likes pace. So instead of giving him pace, he trapped him with a slower delivery, which eventually led to Axar Patel taking the catch.”
Pathan said the world has rarely seen a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who keeps delivering for India in crunch situations.
“I have spoken about Bumrah many times before and I will say it again. We are lucky that a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah plays for India. India has never had a bowler like him before. Perhaps the world has rarely seen a bowler like him. He has everything including yorkers, slower balls, outswing, inswing, and bouncers. He also knows very well how to bowl under pressure. The way he creates pressure and dominance is remarkable.”
Pathan praised Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy for giving the 18th over to Bumrah, who was able to keep the English batters at bay.
“Even Suryakumar Yadav deserves credit here because he gave Bumrah the 18th over. At that moment, I thought he might give him the 19th or even the 20th over. I could understand the 19th, but bringing him in the 18th over and conceding only six runs there was outstanding bowling. He kept bowling from around the wicket, targeting yorkers and mixing in slower balls. The fine leg was placed deep, which made the lap shot difficult. Bethell, who is especially known for playing reverse laps, did not even try it because lining up Bumrah is extremely difficult. If you try to line him up, he can suddenly bowl a slower one.”
India will take on New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday.
