India secured a thrilling six-run victory over Pakistan in a high-stakes match in front of a packed New York crowd on Sunday, June 9. Jasprit Bumrah, India’s bowling hero, revealed his strategy, saying that he focused solely on hitting the seam as much as possible while defending an under-par total.
India were bowled out for 119, their lowest-ever total in T20Is against Pakistan. Despite this, the bowlers delivered exceptional performances, enabling India to that score and achieve a memorable win at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Bumrah was the standout performer in India’s astonishing defence. With the new ball, he took the crucial wicket of Babar Azam. At 80-3 in the 14th over, Pakistan seemed to be in control until Bumrah claimed the valuable wicket of Mohammad Rizwan. His final wicket came when he dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed, reducing Pakistan to 102-6. Bumrah gave away just 14 runs in his four overs.
“We felt we were a little under par, and when the sun came out, the wicket got a little better, so we had to be really disciplined,” he said after the game. “I tried to keep it simple, tried to hit the seam as much as I could, and focus on my execution.”
Praising his fast-bowling spearhead, Rohit Sharma hailed his sensational spell. “He’s going from strength to strength,” said Rohit of Bumrah at the post-match presentation. “We all know what he can do. I’m not going to talk too much about him. I want him to be in that mindset throughout the World Cup. He’s a genius, we all know that.”
Pakistan’s bowlers gave their all, but the batters let the team down. Babar Azam rued the poor batting after his team’s second consecutive loss in the tournament.
“We bowled well,” said Babar. “In the batting, we lost back-to-back wickets and had too many dot balls. The tactic was simple: play normally, just rotate the strike and hit the odd boundary. But during that period, we had too many dot balls. We can’t expect much from the tailenders. Our plan was to utilise the first six overs in batting, but after losing one wicket, we weren’t up to the mark in the first six overs.”