Bumrah relies on basics

The feature of India’s bowling was how well the team hunted in a pack. There was no single standout performer, with each of the five bowlers getting among the wickets. But the leaders of the attack were the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who set the tone early. 

The two complemented each other superbly in the first 10 overs, neither offering much to South Africa’s openers and each contributing to a very quiet start. Both pacers ended up with two wickets each, and it was particularly sweet for Bumrah, who hadn’t bowled in England before this tournament. 

His wickets came with Chris Morris being beaten for pace and bounce to be too late on the pull, and Andile Phehlukwayo beaten all ends up as a searing, swinging delivery hit his pads right in front of the stumps. 

“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.” 

That experience has included what is customary now for India in white-ball cricket – Bumrah being tasked with the toughest overs, especially at the death. “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. 

Bumrah’s tournament economy rate of 4.47 puts him in the top bracket among bowlers from all over, and he revealed that containing batsmen was one of the strategies the team had adopted in the face of non-helpful conditions. 

“The basic plan was that since the ball was not swinging too much, we were just trying to bowl good, hard lengths,” he revealed. “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.”

India will face Bangladesh in the semi-final at Edgbaston. And while pleased with the win against South Africa, Bumrah promised that there would be no let-up in intensity. “We’re not thinking about the semi-final right now. We’ll go to Birmingham, practise 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.” More often than not, Bumrah has been executing the team’s plans brilliantly.