Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri was just about to call Jasprit Bumrah a magician for his bowling skills, and said that the pacer’s moments which made him stand out in the T20 World Cup were when India defeated Pakistan in the group stage and then the team winning the final against South Africa. India defended a mere 119in their Group A clash against their historic-rivals, coming out victorious. Bumrah changed the game as he got rid of Mohammad Rizwan, and started their downfall afterwards.
Bumrah then bowled a game-changer against the Proteas in final at Barbados, giving just 4 runs in the 26th over before he got rid of aggressive-hitter Marco Jansen.
“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.”
“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.
“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.
“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.
