India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that his plan to bowl yorkers paid off in the death overs. He added that despite the heavy dew he backed himself to execute the yorkers against West Indies power hitters.
Bhuvneshwar bowled a terrific spell (1/29) in his 4 overs and more importantly he conceded just 4 runs in the penultimate over when West Indies needed 29 runs off the last 2 overs and sealed the game for India.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded just 4 runs in the 19th over
Speaking to Star Sports after the match, Kumar revealed that Rohit gave him the responsibility of the penultimate over by saying if he could restrict them to 9-10 runs in this over then it would be difficult for them. And despite Rovman Powell’s heroics in the final over, West Indies fell short by 8 runs.
“I was just believing in myself, Rohit told me that if I can give just 9-10 runs it will be difficult for them, so I just backed myself with the yorkers. There was a bit of dew, but I still backed myself and it came out well,” Kumar spoke to ‘Star Sports’ after the match.
When he was asked about Rovman Powell’s hitting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar jokingly said “He (Powell) was hitting it pretty hard, probably 200kmph!”
Kumar also spoke about challenges to bowl yorkers with the dew. He also pointed out that slower balls were not gripping so he stuck with the plan of yorkers.
“It’s always tough to bowl yorkers with the dew. When we bowled the slower balls it wasn’t gripping and I changed my plan not to bowl slower balls, so it totally depends on the wicket. These (West Indies batters) are very powerful and if you bowl in their zone and it gets difficult,” he added.
When he was asked about his fitness, he said: “Feels good and I don’t want to say anything about that.”
In the first match, he also bowled a good spell as he conceded just 31 runs in his 4-over spell with one wicket. India took a lead of 2-0 and the third and final match will be played on Sunday.
Also read IND vs WI Stats Review: West Indies Tour Of India 2022, 2nd T20I