It does sound hilarious but India in all probability would have failed to defend 253 runs in a World Cup semifinal if Jasprit Bumrah didn't exist. He has bowled on this ground more than anybody from this Indian team having played here for more than 10 years now. Even for someone like him, it was going to be a task to contain batters because India scoring beyond 250 gave England clarity. There was no margin for batsmen to take time to settle. They needed more than 2 runs a ball so in theory, one dot ball called for at least a boundary off the next and even that wouldn't have been enough. England had to try and hit every ball regardless of the bowler if they were to get within distance of chasing it.
Bumrah came into the attack in the fifth over of the match, brought on particularly to get rid off Harry Brook, England's best batsman and it took him precisely one ball to do the job. Bumrah bowled a delicious slower one which completely deceived the England captain as he was stunningly caught by Axar Patel. Despite of a six hit by Bethell, Bumrah's first over only went for 7 runs. He came back to bowl the 11th over of the match to try and remove Jacob Bethell who was looking threatening. He couldn't and in fact, the over went for 12 runs with a couple of boundaries in it.
Overs between 12-15 went for 54 without fall of any wickets. With Bethell and Jacks still there and hitting the ball cleanly, 69 off 30 balls looked realistic, perhaps even achievable. Surya's ideal plan would have been to bowl Bumrah two of the last four overs. But England's assault on every other bowler forced Bumrah to come into the attack earlier, in the 16th over. He started with a quick full delivery to Sam Curran, inside edged it onto the pads for a single. Second ball to Bethell, another quick delivery, only costing a single. Third ball to Curran, might have been an attempted yorker that drifted slightly on leg stump and was instantly punished for four runs with a clip through square leg. Fourth ball, a brilliantly executed slower yorker which Curran just about managed to keep out for a dot ball. Fifth ball, a slower bouncer this time. Curran was onto the shot too early and hence could only dab it to mid wicket for a single. The last ball of the over, an attempted slower yorker outside the off stump, drove to deep point for another single. 8 runs off Bumrah's third and 16th over of the innings left England with 62 to get off the final four overs. Arshdeep bowled the 17th and got hit for 17 which left Suryakumar Yadav with a decision to make on when to bowl Bumrah. He said now and called his best bowler to bowl the 18th and his final over of the match. For once, his job was not to close out the innings but to build pressure and give the last two bowlers some breathing space. England needed 45 off 18 with 5 wickets in the bank. The game should have felt to be in balance but didn't as 6 out of those 18 balls were going to be bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. England had to get something from this over, at least 10 runs even if they had predetermined to not take any risks off the best bowler in the world. Bumrah stood on his bowling mark with all of India hoping for precision, as always. First ball of the over, almost a pinpoint yorker, hitting Sam Curran's bat viciously, for an invaluable dot. Second ball, a near perfect yorker that could only get hit as far as Rinku Singh at long on. just 1 off the first 2 balls, 44 needed off 16. Bethell had to manufacture something and this is where Bumrah's genius shows up. He goes slower for the next delivery, on the exact spot as the previous two deliveries but 25 kilometers per hour slower. There was an instance in one of previous Bumrah overs when Bethell pushed the ball to mid wicket and ran two. This time though, Bumrah took it upon himself and chased the ball down to where a short mid wicket would have been to keep it down to a single. Fourth ball, an attempted yorker straying down the leg side which Curran failed to put away and could only get two runs. Fifth ball, one more full toss straight at the stumps, only hit down the ground for a single. These two deliveries epitomized the legend of Bumrah and what he does to a batsman's mind. The first three deliveries were so accurate that the batsmen were not at fault for not expecting two full tosses in a row. The last ball of his spell, a quick yorker on leg stump hit for a single to deep mid wicket. Six balls, six attempted yorkers, six balls of predictability and thrilling precision that almost handed the match to India. Just 6 runs of the over and that was Bumrah done for the day. His figures read 4-0-33-1. Bumrah got hit at an economy of 8.25 while the 36 Bumrah-less overs of the match went at 13 runs an over. The peculiar thing about this Bumrah spell is that he wasn't even at his best, rather far from it. He missed his line and lengths for far too many times, unlike his usual self. He hasn't been perfect in this World Cup. He has got hit for sixes more often than he has in the past but when the situation demanded him to show up, he did like the champion that he is. England were looking on track to snatch it from India's hands after being behind the game for the first 35 overs of the match. But then Jasprit Bumrah intercepted and said 'no' to Jacob Bethell and England.
It was a masterclass of how to bowl on one of the most unforgiving grounds in world cricket. Amidst the chaos and all the moving parts of T20 cricket, Bumrah stands out from others who often rely on batsman's mistakes and sometimes randomness for success. With every delivery that Bumrah bowls, there is a sense of planning and execution with an expectation of a certain outcome. Calmness is a rare and valuable commodity in short format cricket and its the batsmen who generally produce innings that stop panic in the dressing room. After all the carnage caused by batters from both sides, it was Bumrah, the best bowler in the world that brought calmness during the most violent phase of the match.
