Whatever the question, Jasprit Bumrah insists he has the answer after steering India to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-finals with a masterclass in bowling at the death. The right-arm quick - ranked top of the ODI rankings – finished with 4/55 against Bangladesh, including three wickets in the final seven overs to steer India home to a 28-run win and a place in the semi-finals.
Bangladesh, responding to India’s score of 314/9, looked set to fall comfortably short of the target before Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin hit 66 runs in nine overs.
That left them with 70 runs required from the final seven but Bumrah removed Sabbir before coming back to sweep up the tail.
“There is always a lot of preparation. When I practice in the net, I practice each and every situation,” he said.
“Whether that is with the old ball, new ball, bowling at the death. All of that helps me when it comes to real situations. If the work ethic is good, the execution will come and that is what happened. I do it again and again in the nets so the more you do it, the better at it you are.
“You can’t master it but you can be better at it.”
India have progressed serenely through the tournament, their only defeat coming against hosts England at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Knowledge is power and on the same pitch, they came back impressively against Bangladesh, with Rohit Sharma making 104 – his fourth century of the World Cup.
A score of around 400 looked on the cards before the run-rate slowed but Bumrah insists the drier conditions are to India’s liking ahead of next week’s knockout stages.
“Even in the England game, with the new ball it was relatively easier. The new ball wasn't doing a lot. So the batsmen were able to score runs,” he added.
“As the ball got older, the wicket also got slower. There was a lot of sunlight in the last game, so the wicket would obviously get slower and slower.
“I think that's the nature of the wickets, and that could be the nature of the wickets going forward. The summer is coming now, so the wickets could get drier. It's good practice for us.”
India’s attention will now switch to the semi-finals but before that they face Sri Lanka in their final group game at Headingley.
Bumrah now has 14 wickets and, even though India might be tempted to rest him, he sent a firm message to coach Ravi Shastri.
“This is my first World Cup, so I want to play as many games as possible,” he added.
“I don't think I've become an experienced player that I could say I don't want to play some games.
“I always look forward to playing, and the more number of matches you play, you enjoy more.”
(Inputs from ICC)
