Jasprit Bumrah: The Ultimate Death Bowler of This Era!

At the end of the presentation after the second Semi Final of the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup, in which team India held the nerve against England in a high scoring thriller, player of the match Sanju Samson rightly said that he wouldn’t be standing there if not for Jasprit Bumrah’s lethal performance in the death overs. 

This statement aptly sums up the role played by Bumrah in this high-stakes contest which saw India emerge victorious by a slender margin of 7 runs despite setting a mammoth target of 254 runs after batting first. It was undoubtedly Bumrah’s economic figures that made the difference and averted a defeat for India against the heroics of England batter Jacob Bethel. 

When every bowler of both teams was taken for tons of runs, Jasprit Bumrah once again delivered a match altering spell with stupendous figures in his 4 overs. The fact that Bumrah conceded just 33 runs when Bethel launched a stunning counterattack against the lackluster bowling by the rest of his colleagues proves why he is being hailed as the best death bowler of the era. 

When England needed 45 runs of the last three overs, the target seemed to be achievable given than Bethel was well settled. But, it was Bumrah who pulled off the match in India’s favour with his bowling masterclass as he gave just 6 runs in his final over. This one over shot the required run rate close to 20 runs per over and ultimately proved to be a game changer for both teams. 

4-0-33-1. These are the figures of Bumrah’s spell. An economy rate of 8.25 in a match with an overall run rate of nearly 12.5. The remaining 36 overs went for 13 RPO. His toe crushers, unpredictable slower ones, menacing bouncers and dipping off cutters surprised England batters who decided to negate his spell without losing wickets. This strategy proved to be fatal at the end of the day. 

This is not the first time that Bumrah turned a saviour for team India in such close encounters. Remember his match winning performance in the final of previous edition when India won the final against South Africa. Now, he is on the brink of giving another title for the team. And if he delivers a similar spell in the big final, the defending champions might retain the title.

Image Credit – BCCI