There are good bowlers, there are very good bowlers, there are elite bowlers and after all of them, there is Jasprit Bumrah. One of a kind! (Scorecard | As It Happened)
When India defeated Pakistan on Sunday in the T20 World Cup 2024 Group A match in New York, Bumrah again showed he is just built different. He is not a bowler he is a cheat code for India. Enter his name whenever you are in trouble and Bumrah bails you out!
Some of the finest modern pacers were on show on Sunday in the much-hyped India-Pakistan clash. The tall left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi, the express pacer Haris Rauf, the experienced Mohammed Amir, the young sensation Naseem Shah were on the Pakistani side.
Unlike the days of the past, the Indian side was also replete with top tier fast bowling talent. Mohammed Siraj can run through sides on his day, Arshdeep Singh is among India's best young talents.
Some of them had decent outings, some of them had an outstanding match and yet none of the pacers was even close to Bumrah who was in a league of his own.
No bowler on either side could match Bumrah's figures of 14/3.
While the numbers, three wickets for 14 runs in four overs, look fantastic on first glance, it is in the details that the genius of Bumrah shines even brighter.
India had just 120 to defend and pressure went up when the Pakistan opening pair refused to budge in the first four overs. In comes Bumrah in the fifth over and forces Babar Azam to edge one to the first slip. India get the much-needed opening wicket.
With Azam gone, Mohammad Rizwan was the glue holding together Pakistan. When things looked like slipping away from India's control, Rohit again entered Bumrah's name.
And guess what? The cheat code worked again. Bumrah clean bowled Rizwan.
Wicket of Rizwan helped India stem the flow of runs and after 18 overs, Pakistan needed 21 from 12 balls. India looked in control but Iftikhar Ahmed was the dangerman who could still turn the game. Rohit has no option but to enter the cheat code again.
Does the cheat code work? Of course it does.
He dismisses Iftikhar in the penultimate over and gives just three runs to leave 18 for Arshdeep. 18 were seven more than what Arshdeep required to push India to win the game by six runs.
India have won both their matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup so far and Jasprit Bumrah has been the Player Of The Match in both of them.
That Bumrah is not a bowler but a cheat code should be a fact now. How else does one end up with an economy of under 6.5 in an IPL season where 200 was being scored every second day and 250 getting breached was a weekly phenomenon?
