(AP Photo)
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has lavished high praise on pacer Jasprit Bumrah, calling him a “magician” with the ball. Bumrah was instrumental in India’s T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, proving to be a key player.
His exceptional performance was crucial in India’s narrow defense of a modest 119-run total against Pakistan. In the final at Barbados, Bumrah delivered a pivotal spell against South Africa, allowing just four runs in the 16th over and dismissing the powerful Marco Jansen, which significantly hampered the Proteas’ chase of 176.
Reflecting on India’s victory over Pakistan, Shastri highlighted Bumrah’s dismissal of Rizwan as a critical moment. According to Shastri, Bumrah’s removal of Rizwan shifted the game’s momentum and triggered a collapse in the Pakistani batting lineup, which was comfortably placed at 80/3 before the pivotal dismissal.
“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.
“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,” he added.
Rohit Sharma deployed Bumrah in the death overs against the well-set Rizwan, and the crucial wicket swung the momentum back in India’s favor.
“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 another of his favorite moments was Bumrah dismissing Jansen.
“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.
Jansen became the sixth South African wicket to fall in the 18th over, leaving the Proteas needing 21 runs from 15 balls to win. Earlier, in the 17th over, all-rounder Hardik Pandya had dismissed Heinrich Klaasen, who 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,” he added.
Bumrah was named ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his impressive tally of 15 wickets at an average of 8.26. Shastri likened the 30-year-old’s performance to legendary figures such as 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.
