“That was a crucial stage”: Jasprit Bumrah on dismissing Muhammad Rizwan in T20 World Cup 2024 clash

New York [US], June 10 (ANI): Following the win in the thrilling clash against Pakistan in ICC T20 World Cup 2024, India’s right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah opened up on dismissing the opposition wicketkeeper-batter Muhammad Rizwan.

Bumrah’s miserly three-wicket haul which applied pressure on Pakistan batters and a counter-attacking, match-saving knock by Rishabh Pant powered India to a narrow win at a packed Nassau County Stadium which keeps India’s World Cup dreams alive with two more group stage games to go.

The speedster asserted that the Men in Blue were very calm and clear on what they had to do to restrict the arch-rivals.

“When we were batting in the morning, there was a lot more help for the bowlers. When we bowled, the ball had stopped seaming and there wasn’t a lot of lateral movement. We were very calm and very clear on what we had to do,” Bumrah said in a video posted by ICC on Instagram.

The 30-year-old further spoke about Rizwan’s dismissal. He stated that if he had not taken the wicket of Rizwan, the match would have gone in favour of the Men in Green.

“In my third over – that was a crucial stage. If that over went in Pakistan’s favour, then the game would have also gone in their favour,” the fast bowler added.

Coming to the match, Pakistan won the toss and put India to bat first. However, the Indian batters did not get things going for them at this tough surface as star openers Virat Kohli (4) and Rohit Sharma (13) failed to score big. Rishabh Pant (42 in 31 balls, with six fours) seemed to be playing on a different pitch and had useful partnerships with Axar Patel (20 in 18 balls, with two fours and a six) and Suryakumar Yadav (seven in eight balls, with a four). However, the lower middle order crumbled under the pressure of scoring runs on such a tough pitch and India could make just 119 in 19 overs.

Haris Rauf (3/21) and Naseem Shah (3/21) were the top bowlers for Pakistan. Mohammed Amir got two scalps while Shaheen Shah Afridi got one.

In the run-chase, Pakistan took a more measured approach and Mohammed Rizwan (31 in 44 balls, with a four and six) held one end steady.

However, Bumrah (3/14) and Hardik Pandya (2/24) got the crucial wickets of skipper Babar Azam (13), Fakhar Zaman (13), Shadab Khan (4), Iftikhar Ahmed (5) as well, which kept the pressure intact on Pakistan. With 18 runs needed in the final over, Naseem Shah (10*) tried to win it for Pakistan, however, Arshdeep Singh (1/31) made sure Pakistan fell short by six runs.

Bumrah secured the ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-winning spell.

After winning this thriller, India is at the top of Group A with two wins in two games and four points. Pakistan is in fourth place, having lost both their games to the USA and India. Their knockout stage chances look slim.