NEW DELHI: While Ravi Shastri, the former head coach of India, did not go so far as to label pacer Jasprit Bumrah a magician with the ball, he did mention that his two favorite moments from the T20 World Cup in the Americas were India’s ability to fend off Pakistan’s attack in the group stage and Rohit Sharma‘s team’s unexpected victory over South Africa in the final.
In their Group A match against their bitter rivals, India triumphed by six runs, defending a pitiful 119. Bumrah turned the tide of the match by dismissing the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan, sending Pakistan reeling when they were comfortably placed at 80/3.
Then, in the Barbados final, Bumrah bowled a game-changing spell against the Proteas, giving up only four runs in the 16th over and dismissing dangerous power-hitter Marco Jansen to put the opposition on the defensive in their pursuit of 176.
“He (Bumrah) just showed the world what it takes…and you know, it’s not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, ‘do this and the ball does that’,” Shastri said in the ICC Review, according to PTI.
“I think the India-Pakistan (match) because India were made to fight there and realise what the right combination should be going forward in the tournament. That and then of course the (T20 World Cup) final, those final five overs,” said Shastri.
In the last overs, Rohit unleashed Bumrah on the well-positioned Rizwan, and the wicket turned the tide in favour of India.
“I’d say one was Jasprit (Bumrah) getting Mohammad Rizwan. Extremely crucial, because that could have tilted the balance of the game. And it happened on the first ball of a new spell,” he added.
Shastri mentioned that Bumrah’s wicket of Jansen was his other favorite moment.
“Brought back into the attack and then getting it to reverse and sneak through bat and pad (of Marco Jansen), I thought that was a very, very important wicket at that time,” Shastri recalled.
In the eighteenth over, Jansen became the sixth wicket for Protea. South Africa needed to win with 21 runs off of 15 balls.
Heinrich Klaasen was removed by all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the 17th over after he was caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
“Hardik (Pandya) had done the main damage by taking Klaasen (in the previous over) but I thought back-to-back, that over and that wicket was extremely important.”
After taking 15 wickets at an average of 8.26, Bumrah was declared the “Player of the Tournament.” Shastri compared the 30-year-old to former greats like the late Shane Warne, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
“Very few have done it (change the flow of the game). I thought Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) had it in their prime when they played white-ball cricket. Shane Warne had it where he could literally tell the ball, go there, pitch there, hit leg stump,” Shastri said.
“People who are on top of the game have that ability. I think Bumrah had that in this World Cup,” he added.
He had nothing but appreciation for Suryakumar Yadav‘s magnificent boundary catch that removed David Miller from the game and got the Proteas down to 161/7 with five deliveries left in the match.
“I think that (catch) was a game changer because you know what David (Miller) can do,” Shastri said.
“Another big shot (from Miller), and then, you know, the game’s in the balance. So, I thought the timing couldn’t have been better.”
Shastri expressed his amazement at Pant’s unwavering resolve to play top-tier cricket again following a near-fatal automobile accident that kept him out of the game for over a year.
“He did his job with the bat, but it was his keeping that really surprised everyone. For someone to recover that quickly and then move the way he did.
“He hardly missed anything, albeit he must have felt the pressure as the tournament got on because it’s not easy to come back and do all the stuff he did,” Shastri added.
In their Group A match against their bitter rivals, India triumphed by six runs, defending a pitiful 119. Bumrah turned the tide of the match by dismissing the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan, sending Pakistan reeling when they were comfortably placed at 80/3.
Then, in the Barbados final, Bumrah bowled a game-changing spell against the Proteas, giving up only four runs in the 16th over and dismissing dangerous power-hitter Marco Jansen to put the opposition on the defensive in their pursuit of 176.
“He (Bumrah) just showed the world what it takes…and you know, it’s not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, ‘do this and the ball does that’,” Shastri said in the ICC Review, according to PTI.
“I think the India-Pakistan (match) because India were made to fight there and realise what the right combination should be going forward in the tournament. That and then of course the (T20 World Cup) final, those final five overs,” said Shastri.
In the last overs, Rohit unleashed Bumrah on the well-positioned Rizwan, and the wicket turned the tide in favour of India.
“I’d say one was Jasprit (Bumrah) getting Mohammad Rizwan. Extremely crucial, because that could have tilted the balance of the game. And it happened on the first ball of a new spell,” he added.
Shastri mentioned that Bumrah’s wicket of Jansen was his other favorite moment.
“Brought back into the attack and then getting it to reverse and sneak through bat and pad (of Marco Jansen), I thought that was a very, very important wicket at that time,” Shastri recalled.
In the eighteenth over, Jansen became the sixth wicket for Protea. South Africa needed to win with 21 runs off of 15 balls.
Heinrich Klaasen was removed by all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the 17th over after he was caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
“Hardik (Pandya) had done the main damage by taking Klaasen (in the previous over) but I thought back-to-back, that over and that wicket was extremely important.”
After taking 15 wickets at an average of 8.26, Bumrah was declared the “Player of the Tournament.” Shastri compared the 30-year-old to former greats like the late Shane Warne, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
“Very few have done it (change the flow of the game). I thought Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) had it in their prime when they played white-ball cricket. Shane Warne had it where he could literally tell the ball, go there, pitch there, hit leg stump,” Shastri said.
“People who are on top of the game have that ability. I think Bumrah had that in this World Cup,” he added.
He had nothing but appreciation for Suryakumar Yadav‘s magnificent boundary catch that removed David Miller from the game and got the Proteas down to 161/7 with five deliveries left in the match.
“I think that (catch) was a game changer because you know what David (Miller) can do,” Shastri said.
“Another big shot (from Miller), and then, you know, the game’s in the balance. So, I thought the timing couldn’t have been better.”
Shastri expressed his amazement at Pant’s unwavering resolve to play top-tier cricket again following a near-fatal automobile accident that kept him out of the game for over a year.
“He did his job with the bat, but it was his keeping that really surprised everyone. For someone to recover that quickly and then move the way he did.
“He hardly missed anything, albeit he must have felt the pressure as the tournament got on because it’s not easy to come back and do all the stuff he did,” Shastri added.