Star India opener Rohit Sharma, who is a class apart on his day, feels Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are currently the best death bowlers in the world.
Bumrah and Kumar have contributed significantly in India’s limited over success on a consistent basis keeping in mind India has played most of the cricket in the sub-continent pitches. Bumrah proved to be decisive in the third ODI in Kanpur, as he kept his nerve to stop New Zealand at 331 runs in reply to India’s 337.
With 30 runs needed in 18 balls, the match was in the hands of the Kiwis before Bumrah bowled two brilliant overs to turn things in their favour.
“I think we have the two best death bowlers. If you look at the last series against Australia, the way they have bowled, you have to praise them a lot. Because if you look at Australia’s batting, with their power hitting, those were the two bowlers who got us back most of the times,” Rohit said after the match.
Rohit credited the quick bowlers for this win, as he mentioned scoring 35 runs in the last four overs is not a daunting task on this kind of pitches considering the dew factor in mind. He added it is because of Bumrah and Kumar, the team was able to pull back.
Earlier, Aussie skipper Steven Smith showered heaps of praise on these two fast bowlers during India’s triumph over Australia by 4-1 last month.
“We knew that it was not going to be that easy because there was a lot of dew on the field. But our bowlers did exceptionally well to come back every now and then. Whenever they are put under pressure, they know how to come back,” the batsman from Mumbai further added.
The 30-year-old batsman didn’t have a fair show in the first two matches but made up to it by a brilliant knock of 147 runs in the third ODI. He along with skipper Virat Kohli shared a 230-run partnership to take India’s total to 337 runs. It is also the fourth double-hundred partnership between Rohit and Kohli.
“I have played here a few times now, and I understand the nature of the wicket. So unless you make a mistake, you are not going to get out. And the most important thing about my batting was the partnership. Because once you get stuck in the partnership, it’s always difficult (for the bowlers),” Rohit said while talking about his innings.
Talking about failure, Rohit mentioned he didn’t do anything special. He was focusing on his game, watching his batting videos and consulting with batting coach Sanjay Bangar helped him to get back, Rohit admitted.
“I like to follow my routine, which is to just understand the nature of the wicket and what shots you need to play,” the swashbuckling opener signed off.
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