Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali questioned England’s batting approach against Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup semifinal. Ali reckons the batting duo of Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran should have been more aggressive against Bumrah in the 18th over.
England needed 45 runs off the last 18 balls but Bumrah nailed all his yorkers in the 18th over, conceding only six runs. Bumrah eventually returned with figures of 1-33 in his quota of four overs when 499 runs were scored in the match.
Ali said India wouldn’t have won the two World Cups without Jasprit Bumrah.
Moeen Ali said on Beard Before Wicket podcast, “When you are chasing 250, you still can’t slog him, but you have to go after him in a smart manner. The mistake England made in that 18th over was playing him not to give him a wicket. The rate went up too much, and they had a lot of batting. So they should have taken a risk in that over. One of them should have. But he is phenomenal. Without him, India wouldn’t have the two World Cups.”
On the other hand, England leg-spinner Adil Rashid praised Bumrah and said other teams don’t have a bowler like him.
“Teams going hard at him actually plays into his hands. Taking him for six to seven runs in an over and taking everybody else on is the way to go about it. He’s their biggest asset. India has many batters who can hit sixes and fours or score 50 off 25, but does anyone have someone like Bumrah? No,” he stated.
The England leg-spinner rated Bumrah as the best white-ball seamer in the world.
“In the past 15 to 20 years, he’s by far definitely the best seamer in white-ball cricket. He’s probably the best seamer to ever play T20 cricket as a whole package. Batting in this day and age is incredible, with batters reverse scooping seamers and miscues going for six. So for a seamer to control that and for people to play him in a certain way is unbelievable,” said Rashid (via the aforementioned source).
Bumrah bagged 14 wickets in eight matches of the tournament at an average of 12.43 and returned with figures of 4-15 in the final against New Zealand.
