In a low-scoring thriller, Jasprit Bumrah returned match-winning figures of 3/14 against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on Sunday, proving once again why he is arguably the best white-ball bowler right now. HT looks at the top five spells of Bumrah in international T20s over the years.
3/14 v Pakistan, Nassau County (NY), 2024
Dot balls wouldn’t have alone won the match. India needed wickets and Bumrah was up to the task. Preying on Pakistan’s understandable caution on a devious pitch, Bumrah first removed captain Babar Azam with a length ball that nipped in, took an edge and flew to Suryakumar Yadav at first slip. Mohammad Rizwan is better keyed into situations like this but Bumrah got the better of him as well, luring him with a swinging length ball that Rizwan thought was full enough for a wild slog, It wasn’t, and the ball crashed into his stumps. Something again had to give in the 19th over, and again it was Bumrah bowling an angled-in low full toss that Iftikhar Ahmed didn’t get enough bat under. Running in from fine-leg, Arshdeep Singh held on to the catch despite almost colliding with Yadav, giving Bumrah and India another reason to celebrate.
3/12 v New Zealand, Mount Maunganui, 2020
New Zealand, seaming conditions, fresh pitch, there was nothing really not to like if you are Jasprit Bumrah. Buoyed by Rohit Sharma’s 60, India had already set New Zealand a tricky target of 164. But New Zealand are formidable at home, so Rohit spread Bumrah’s overs across the innings. Bumrah started with a wicket (of Martin Guptill) maiden in the second over. Returning in the 12th, he conceded just six runs. Then again in the 14th, another wicket (Daryll Mitchell) and three runs. And then finally the 19th, knocking over Tim Southee and squeezing the life out of the chase by conceding only three runs. India won by seven runs.
3/16 v Australia, Visakhapatnam, 2019
Another low-scoring thriller. India lost but not without Bumrah taking the fight to Australia with a penultimate-over special. Chasing 126 shouldn’t have been so exhausting to begin with had it not been for Bumrah making Australia earn every run in the Powerplay. Three back-to-back overs saw Bumrah concede 14 runs and dismiss Aaron Finch. At the beginning of the 19th over, Australia needed 16 in 12. Enter Bumrah, and the scenario dramatically as the next four balls read 0,1,0,1 before Peter Handscomb was done in by a skidder. Next ball, Bumrah uprooted Nathan Coulter-Nile’s stumps with a searing yorker, setting up yet another last-over thriller.
2/9 v New Zealand, Thiruvananthapuram, 2017
A rain-truncated match but no less a thriller, this match once again highlighted Bumrah’s ability to extract dots in conditions batters normally back themselves to get good scores. Eight overs were allotted to each side and India didn’t really rise to the situation, constantly losing wickets to finish with 67/5. Bumrah came in and straightaway put pressure on New Zealand, dismissing Colin Munro with only his third ball of his spell. More enthralling though was the penultimate over where Bumrah foxed Henry Nicholls with a slow off-cutter before Tom Bruce was run out off the fifth ball to leave New Zealand needing 19 in the last over.
2/10 v England, Birmingham, 2022
Bhuvneshwar Kumar came up with the headlining act of 3/15 that included dismissing England openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler within three overs but this win was set up and won by Bumrah through his wily bowling, especially in the middle overs. Liam Livingstone was looking to take the attack to India by taking consecutive fours off Kumar but Bumrah came up with a well-executed slower ball to peg England back. Another slower ball in the 11th over to take care of all-rounder Sam Curran, and Bumrah finished with two vital wickets but more significantly, a staggering 11 dot balls while conceding only one boundary.
