Indian defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 match No.19 at New York's Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, June 9.
Despite a low score posted by the Indian batters, the bowlers restricted Pakistan at 113/7 and won the game by six runs thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s spell of three wickets for 14 runs which included the wickets of Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.
In a post-match press conference, Bumrah revealed the key point that assured India’s victory and if the over had gone in the favor of Pakistan, then Bumrah’s side would have been on the losing side.
“The third over of mine, that was a crucial stage of that situation. The game would have been over if that had gone in Pakistan’s favour. So that was a crucial stage,” the pacer stated.
He also revealed what was his game plan during the match and how he acted on it, "We felt we were a little under par," Bumrah said. "When the sun came out, the wicket got a bit better. So we had to be disciplined with what we were trying to do. I tried to keep it simple, the wicket got better, and the swing was less. So I tried to hit the seam as much as I can. I just tried to be clear with my plan and focused on my execution.”
Bumrah’s ability to bowl like he used to for India was being questioned before the T20 World Cup 2024 due to a lower back surgery he had and missed the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Bumrah also stated that "See a year ago, the same people were saying that I might not play again and my career is over and then now the question changed.”
Bumrah has also surpassed Hardik Pandya and become India’s third leading wicket-taker in T20Is with his 79 wickets in 64 T20Is at an average of 18.67 and an economy of 6.44 with best figures of 3/11 whereas Pandya has 78 wickets in 94 T20Is with the best figures of 4/16.
He is succeeded by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has taken 90 wickets in 87 matches at an average of 23.10 with best figures of 5/4.
Yuzvendra Chahal sits at the top of the charts with his 96 wickets in 80 games at an average of 25.09 with the best figures of 6/25.
- Jasprit Bumrah
