Magical Bumrah’s second burst, which drove the Proteas to their knees, was the decisive blow
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah didn’t need the Player of the Tournament award at the T20 World Cup to reiterate his status as the premier cross-format bowler of his generation, but it sure didn’t hurt. Throughout India’s triumphant march, the 30-year-old delivered one telling performance after another, but like all great champions, he reserved his best for last, nailing two outstanding overs under extreme pressure to convert a near lost cause into the most sensational of victories in Saturday’s final against South Africa.
Extraordinary effort
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To possess all the skills required to boss over batters in a format where the dice is loaded heavily in favour of the batting fraternity is one thing. To be able to execute those skills flawlessly, with so much on the line, is quite something else. South Africa were running away with the final, needing 30 off 30 deliveries with six wickets in hand, when Bumrah wrote his own script.
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Jasprit Bumrah with the World Cup trophy. Pic/Getty Images
His final burst of the tournament, 2-0-6-1, drove the Proteas to their knees. He had Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya for support, but it was during those 12 deliveries that the destination of the World Cup changed inexorably from Johannesburg to Mumbai.
An inspiration to many
Never before has an Indian paceman sparked such a buzz in cricketing venues across the world. Whenever Bumrah walk-runs in, anticipation hits fever pitch and the expectation of something magical in the air. But Bumrah isn’t just a performer any longer. He is also a motivator, a role model, a mentor; eight and a half years of international cricket under his belt, he now thinks as much about others’ bowling as his own, and as young Arshdeep pointed out the other day, several of his own 17 wickets in the World Cup have been ‘because of Jassi bhai’.
A couple of weeks back, Lakshmipathy Balaji, the former India quick who is currently the coach of the Tamil Nadu state side, had said that were Bumrah to bowl India to the World Cup title, he would cement his standing as the second-best Asian pacer of all time, behind only the peerless Wasim Akram. Bumrah isn’t a great one for rankings and comparisons, but that’s +not a shabby compliment to own, now that he has done what Akram did for Pakistan and to England in the 1992 World Cup.
2-0-6-1
Jasprit Bumrah’s match-winning second spell in the T20 World Cup final
2013
The year India won its last major ICC tournament, the Champions Trophy
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