Jasprit Bumrah took 4/39 turned out to be his best World Cup performance which also helmed India for an 8-wicket victory against Afghanistan. On a belter of a pitch that the Arun Jaitley Stadium offers, where 350-360 was a par score, Bumrah ended with figures of four for 39 in 10 overs, allowing India to limit Afghanistan to 272 for 8, a target the hosts gunned down in 35 overs.
His new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj was taken to the cleaners both in the powerplay and later on in the innings but the Afghanistan batters could not flex their muscle against the wily Bumrah, who has looked as sharp as ever since his comeback in August. He has also added an outswinger to his already lethal armoury.
While Siraj was looking for some swing and seam early on, Bumrah knew there was none coming. Therefore, he just focused on bowling the hard lengths. Asked to rate his performance after the game, Bumrah was modest, to say the least.
"I am not result-oriented. Just because I have taken four wickets, that doesn't mean that I am very, very happy or I have done something extraordinary. I just go with my preparation. I go with the process that I feel is right. I try to read the wickets and try to find the best answers that work on that wicket.
"As simple as that, not thinking about the results because I've got results today. I'm very, very good, that doesn't work in my book. I try to back my strengths, try to read the wicket, and try to give my best," he said in a matter-of-fact way after India's emphatic win on Wednesday.
If the wickets don't make him "happy", what else does? Bumrah harped about his "process" again.
"See, obviously in this format you have to understand what is working. So, some days there would be some swings, so your lengths would change. But this wicket was quite a batting track that we realised early on as well when we started bowling.
"There was a little bit of seam but the ball was coming on to the bat really well from the first over so we realised that. So, we are just trying to hit the hard length, try to make it as difficult as possible and try to make them hit difficult shots. So that was the plan and probably trying to do that," said the 29-year-old.
Bumrah was out of action for almost a year before making a comeback with the T20s in Ireland. His performance in the Asia Cup too met his high standards.
Ahead of his much-awaited return, Bumrah had insisted that he was getting ready to bowl 10 overs in a game and not the four he would require in a T20.
When he was asked to assess his progress over the last 45 days, Bumrah was expectedly not intrigued.
"See, at the end of the day, you (media) guys will anyway decide that this is, I was like this, I was like that, what I am doing. But I don't work like that. As I told you, I just look at my preparations. And I am a little detached person. I don't know what's going around in the world.
"So, I just looked at what I have to do on that particular day and obviously reading the game, reading your strengths that's what has worked for me in the past as well, keeping all of those things in mind, keep going forward." Will be happy to see my mother at home. After all, there are a few things that make Bumrah happy and one of them is seeing his mother. He has yet to play an ODI at his home ground in Ahmedabad but on Saturday, he will get to do that on the biggest stage as India takes on Pakistan in front of a one lakh-plus crowd.
"Yeah, obviously I've been away for a while now. I'll be happy to see my mother at home. I'm going to see her. That's the first basic thing for me. It's obviously playing (being played) at home," said the Ahmedabad-born pacer.
"I have not played a one-day international there. I played a Test match. So, yeah, the atmosphere is going to be exciting. I'm sure a lot of people are going to come. So, it will be a sight to see. So, yeah, hoping for the best over there." The World Cup is likely to give the ODIs a booster shot it desperately needs. The format's future is uncertain in the era of T20 leagues but Bumrah remains a fan of ODIs.
"That depends on the interest because maybe the longer game is sometimes difficult for people to watch and keep a tab on. But at the end of the day, I come from a generation that loves cricket. I watched a Test match and that was my favourite format.
"So, I probably would not be able to relate to that because I love watching the game. I love watching the longest format of the game. So yeah, probably you'll have to ask a person who's a little younger than me," added Bumrah.
(With PTI inputs)
