India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, on Sunday (June 11), said wickets on offer in the ongoing Champions Trophy has left him surprised.
The Pitches at three ground in England had traditionally offered ample assist for the pacers but the fast-bowlers have not found the same help this time around. Consequently, they have struggled to contain the batsmen and the big scores in majority of the matches totally justify their struggle. However, Bumrah has been an exception in this tournament although this is his first visit to England with Team India.
The right-arm pacer began the tournament as per his reputation, conceding only 23 runs in 5 overs against Pakistan. He went for some runs in the following game against Sri Lanka, conceding 52 in 10 overs but got back to his best when it mattered the most. In the must-win game against South Africa on Sunday (June 11), Bumrah along with his partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept things tight right from the word go and the Proteas never recovered from that sedate start as they suffered a stunning collapse to get bundled out for a paltry 191.
Bumrah eventually finished with figures of 2 for 28 in his 8 overs and bagged the Man of the Match award as India stormed into the semifinal with a comprehensive 8-wicket win.
“It’s my first visit to England, and the wickets have been different to what I expected,” Bumrah told ICC after the win. “But it’s been a good challenge for me, a good challenge to contain batsmen. To bowl in tough conditions gives you a lot of confidence. It’s been a different experience for me. Usually in England the ball swings, but over here the wickets are very hard and good to bat on. So we’re very happy that it was a good bowling effort for us.”
He also sounded pleased to have the captain by his side. Bumrah has played only 14 ODIs so far but has become the team’s go-to man in the final overs.
“It’s always good if the captain has so much faith in you and shows so much confidence in you. That always feels good,” he said.
Speaking about the team’s bowing plans, Bumrah further added:
“The basic plan was that since the ball was not swinging too much, we were just trying to bowl good, hard lengths. We were trying to contain the batsmen, that was our basic plan.
“It made an impact because everybody chipped in and everyone was containing batsmen. They wanted to hit, but couldn’t,” he added.
Bumrah further said the team is not thinking about the semifinal at the time being. The defending champions are most likely to take on Bangladesh in the last-four stage but Bumrah insisted the Men in Blue will not take any opposition lightly.
“We’re not thinking about the semi-final right now. We’ll go to Birmingham, practice over there and then start thinking about it,” he said. “It’s never easy in international cricket. You cannot be complacent or take any team lightly. On any given day, any team can beat you. It’s the same for us. We prepare well, try to execute whatever our plan is.”