Jasprit Bumrah's 3 best spells ever vs Pakistan ft. T20 World Cup 2024
Riding on another masterclass with the ball from modern great Jasprit Bumrah, India successfully defended a below-par score of 119 against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup.
Making full use of the bowling-friendly conditions at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Pakistan skittled India out for 119 runs in the first innings. From 81/3 at the end of the 10th over, India were reduced to 96/7 and could eventually muster only 119, which looked well below par at the halfway mark.
Pakistan were in the ascendancy in the run chase and needed to score at run-a-ball in the last ten overs with nine wickets in hand.
However, Pakistan botched up the chase, thanks to some indecisive batting and some incredible bowling from the Men in Blue. Bumrah was at his lethal best, bagging three important wickets and also stemming the run flow.
Figures of 3/14 in his four overs were enough to secure a thrilling six-run win for India and the Player of the Match award for Bumrah.
With that, let us have a look at Jasprit Bumrah's three best-ever spells against Pakistan:
# 3. 2/29, Asia Cup 2018 (fifty overs)
While India and Pakistan haven't squared off against each other in a bilateral series since 2013, Jasprit Bumrah has made a mark against the Men in Green in all of their ICC tournament or Asia Cup encounters.
In 2018, Bumrah played a crucial role in India's nine-wicket victory against Pakistan in an Asia Cup match.
After a disastrous result in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, India came out all guns blazing in the Asia Cup and won both matches against their arch rivals in the tournament. Bumrah started off brilliantly during this particular match and kept things under check in the powerplay.
Bumrah didn't take a wicket in his opening spell, but was very tidy with his line and lengths. Just when a partnership was building in the middle overs between Shoab Malik and Asif Ali, Bumrah returned to dismiss the former batter. He then disturbed the stumps of Shadab Khan in the final over. Pakistan could only muster 237/7.
The chase turned out to be a cakewalk for India as they completed it inside 40 overs, with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma scoring centuries. This was the first of the many occasions that Bumrah tormented the Men in Green.
# 2. 2/19, ODI World Cup 2023
Bumrah produced one of the finest bowling performances of the 2023 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan and broke their backbone with a spell of 2/19 in seven overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Just like the Asia Cup game in 2018, Bumrah didn't get a wicket in his opening spell but made a huge impact in the middle overs.
Coming back for his second spell, Bumrah cleaned up Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan with absolute beauties. His ability to generate seam movement in the latter half of the innings proved to be the difference as Pakistan were bowled out for 191 runs.
It turned out to be a rather straightforward run chase for India. Riding on a blazing 86 from skipper Rohit Sharma, India chased down the target with nearly twenty overs to spare and seven wickets in hand.
# 3/14, T20 World Cup 2024
Defending a below-par score of 119, India couldn't quite get early wickets, which seemed to be of paramount importance. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan got Pakistan off to a steady start before Bumrah removed Babar in the fifth over with a good length away swinger.
Babar prodded at a ball he probably should've left alone and got a thick edge, which was brilliantly caught by Suryakumar Yadav in the slips. Pakistan built a solid foundation with the 31-run partnership between Rizwan and Usman Khan, before Axar Patel made the breakthrough. However, Pakistan were still in the ascendancy when Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Bumrah in the 15th over to provide a breakthrough.
Rizwan tried to ease the pressure by hacking one across the line, only to see his stumps getting rattled. Bumrah finished his spell with the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed, which made it very difficult for Pakistan in the final over. In the end, Arshdeep Singh held his nerves and delivered the killer punch in the final over.