Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant from left to right. (Agencies)
Magical Bumrah
The four overs from Jasprit Bumrah were always going to play a big role. At last year’s World Cup, just as Pakistan were mounting a partnership, it was Bumrah who broke their back. And here on Sunday, as Pakistan were on course to chase down the 120 total, it was Bumrah who proved to be the big difference in the end. With the pitch doing its bit, Bumrah didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. He just ensured he hit the seam and those lengths which made Pakistan batsmen use horizontal bat shots, which come with risks of their own when the ball keeps low. It is how he removed Mohammad Rizwan, who went for a wild slog and ended up losing the stumps. Then bowling the 19th over, he seized total control as his slow deliveries once again were hard to pick. The lone bad ball he bowled – the full-toss – ended up getting the wicket of Iftikhar. Pakistan ended up making a mess of a routine chase.
Gorgeous swat-six
It was an outrageous six from Rohit. Everything loaded against that thought to go across the line: the overcast skies with venomous potential of the ball swinging, the un-trustworthy bounce on the New York pitch. Perhaps, he trusted that the ball from Shaheen Afridi would curl in a touch at least, and not go with the angle – else a top-edge was staring at his face. Almost instinctively, he went for the most gentle of swat-pick-ups that one can imagine. Classy, graceful, stylish, and most effective. It was almost as if he was waving his naughty daughter off. And the ball flew over square-leg amidst roaring Indians. Shaheen had this lovely smile that possibly stems from awareness of how good that shot was against him. Rohit has pulled, flicked, hoisted the ball up in a more traditional pick-up shot manner, but this delicately deft shot would possibly be one of his greatest swat-sixes of his career. Definitely, the most gorgeous.
The lucky draw
Be it the 2019 World Cup or the Asia Cup or the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan’s new ball bowlers have tried to be equally aggressive against Rohit Sharma, when he has come out with the intention of attacking from the word go. And on each of those occasions, they have mostly delivered the line and length that Rohit had wished for. The luck though had eluded Pakistan. But not on Sunday. Just like the first over when Rohit casually flicked Afridi for a six, the left-arm pacer once again went fuller, but this time with no movement on offer, instead of going fully behind the square, picked the fielder at deep square leg.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma walks off the field after losing his wicket during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Sunday, June 9, 2024. AP/PTI
Going left
With the first 10 overs being a crucial period on this pitch, as India lost both openers in the first three overs, India were not rigid with sticking to their left-right duo. Axar Patel, was promoted to No 4, ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya who would be needed later on. In the past India haven’t been adventurous when it comes to using the southpaws, who tend to take the bowlers out of their comfort zone, especially in the T20s.
Pant, falling over, and nearly delivering
Rishabh Pant batting at No.3 gives India some real firepower at the top of the order and has the potential to upset bowlers’ plans with his unconventional approach. Haris Rauf, bowling around the wicket, was struck for three consecutive fours. The first of the boundaries was via extra cover, not a scoring area considered Pant’s strength. The next two were typical Pant. He fell over — like he often does when improvising — to the off-side and sent the ball with the angled bat to the fine leg boundary. Rauf then came over the wicket but bowled slightly leg-side. Pant needed no invitation and dispatched the ball to the fine leg boundary. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim was reverse swept for a four as Pant did Pant things. However, Pant lived a charmed life. Edges and mishits just falling short or in vacant areas. Pant’s innings ended when he skied a delivery from Mohammad Amir after trying to hit straight for a change. Pant could never really cut loose, but showed glimpses of his unconventional shot making.
Catches, easy and tough, put down
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, the old trusted opening pair, could have been back in the dugout if India had held onto their chances, one a sitter, the other a tough caught and bowled chance. In the last ball of the second over, Mohammad Siraj had tried to run out Rizwan by throwing back the ball hit at him. But instead it hit Rizwan the batsman on the forearm. Rizwan completed a single but didn’t look pleased. A little tension in the air. Rizwan then stood nearly two feet outside the wicket to deal with Jasprit Bumrah’s swing. He got a bit adventurous and flicked the ball to fine leg, where Shivam Dube put down a sitter. Then in the next over, Babar tried to hit the ball past Siraj, only for it to pop up. But the ball was hit with some force and Siraj hardly had any time to react. He got his hands to the ball but it went through. Two quick wickets for India on a wicket on which shot-making was not easy could have been the ideal way to claw back into the match.
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