That’s the Jaspirit
New York, June 10
Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t help but laugh at how the narrative about him has changed in a year’s time – from being someone whose career is finished to the one who is at the peak of his powers.
S Africa survive Bangladesh scare
New York: Spinner Keshav Maharaj was lucky to defend 11 runs in the final over as South Africa beat Bangladesh by four runs in a low-scoring thriller in the T20 World Cup here today.
In a contest where fortunes swung from one side to another, Bangladesh fought valiantly until the end riding on gritty knocks from Mahmudullah (20) and Towhid Hridoy (37), but could not land the killer blow in the 20th over while chasing a modest 114.
With six needed off last two balls, Mahmudullah was caught near the ropes excellently by Aiden Markram off Maharaj (3/27). The left-arm spinner bowled three full tosses in the final over but the Bangladesh batters were not able to put them away.
Brief scores: SA: 113/6 in 20 overs (Klaasen 46, Miller 29; Hasan Sakib 3/18); Bangladesh: 109/7 in 20 overs (Hridoy 37, Mahmudullah 20; Maharaj 3/27), Nortje 2/17,
Rabada 2/19). PTI
In 2022, Bumrah underwent surgery for a lower back stress fracture and missed the T20 World Cup in Australia. Just before his comeback in a home bilateral series, he developed a strain and was out for more than 10 months. As a result, people became sceptical of his ability to handle the workload of three formats.
But Indian cricket’s rare gem has silenced the doubters with 67 wickets across three formats in the last one year, including a match-winning 3/14 against Pakistan in the low-scoring T20 World Cup thriller on Sunday.
“See, a year ago, the same people were saying that I might not play again and my career is over and now the question changed,” he said, taking a shot at all those who doubted his ability to fight back.
India restricted Pakistan to 113/7 after posting a mere 119 here thanks largely to Bumrah’s stupendous performance.
He understands the fickle nature of criticism and knows that despite being a clichéd phrase, controlling the controllable works best for him.
“For me, I am not looking at whether I am bowling at the best of my ability. I try to solve the problem that is there in front of me. I know it’s a clichéd answer…but I was trying to focus on what is the best option over here on a wicket like this,” the 30-year-old revealed. “How do I make shot-making difficult? What are the best options for me? So that way, I try to stay in the present and focus on what I have to do.”
A genius
India captain Rohit Sharma termed Bumrah as a genius and wants his lethal weapon to perform at the same level for the entire duration of the T20 World Cup.
“He is going from strength to strength (Bumrah). We all know what he can do. Not going to talk too much about him. We want him to be in that mindset throughout the World Cup. He is a genius, we all know that,” Rohit said.
He added that India had the belief that they would win the match because the pitch was not that conducive for batting.
“With a bowling line-up like that you feel confident to do the job. Halfway through the stage when they were batting, we got everyone together and said that if it can happen to us, it can happen to them,” he said.
