Jasprit Bumrah grounded despite dream run

MANCHESTER: Jasprit Bumrah who became the second fastest Indian to take 100 ODI wickets on Saturday yet again proved the lynchpin of Virat Kohli & Co.’s attack by restricting Sri Lanka to 264 for 7 at Headingley. The three-wicket haul swelled his tournament tally to 17, joining New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and England’s Jofra Archer for the third place.

While Bumrah was choking the batsmen at one end, his new-ball partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar was leaking runs. Despite receiving heaps of praise for his fantastic run in the tournament, Bumrah prefers to stay grounded.  

“I don’t take praise or criticism seriously. The only focus for me is on my preparation, my execution and what I can do for the team. I always focus on all that and as far as the bowling unit is concerned we are very happy that everyone is among the wickets and everyone is contributing,” said Bumrah. India won seven out of their nine matches to finish on top of the league standings. Bumrah said it was a collective effort that took India to the top. “Everybody’s taking a lot of responsibility so that’s very good. You see Pandya taking wickets, you see Shami taking wickets and I’ve also taken wickets, so that’s the positive for us going forward. Everybody’s had a good run here. It’s been a good campaign for us, everybody has chipped in with wickets and with the bat,” added Bumrah.

Bumrah said the competition among Indian fast bowlers has been healthy. “In most of our World Cup games we’ve only had five bowlers that are bowling and it’s been going like this throughout. There’s a healthy competition. It’s a good headache to have when everyone’s performing and everyone’s in good nick and that’s something you love to have going into a crucial game the semifinal,” he said.