Brief scores: India (253/7 in 20 ov) beat England (246/7 in 20 ov) by 7 runs in Mumbai to reach the final of the T20 World Cup. HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
“Jasprit Bumrah ensured he did not return to Ahmedabad alone, but took the team with him,” a former cricketer quipped on air after the T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday.
A staggering 499 runs were scored at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India posted 253. England responded with 246. England lost by seven runs, the very margin of their defeat in the 1987 ODI World Cup final, when Australia scored 253 and England replied with 246.
Yet here we were, talking about a T20I contest.
The Wankhede pitch revived cricket’s oldest class divide: the batters were the pampered Gentlemen and the bowlers their overworked servants. Superstars were humbled. Jofra Archer, usually the most feared merchant of pace, was sent soul-searching by a rampant Sanju Samson, conceding 61 runs. Varun Chakravarthy, the world’s top-ranked T20I bowler, was tonked for 64.
But one man stood apart, as he so often does.
Jasprit Bumrah.
Now India’s safest bank, he conceded just 33 runs in his four overs. More importantly, he gave away only 14 runs at the death, when England were still within touching distance of the target after Jacob Bethell produced one of the knocks of his young career.
We are frequently told that comparing eras is a fool’s errand; that what Malcolm Marshall achieved was peerless, and what Wasim Akram conjured was pure sorcery. We are told to respect the passage of time. But for Bumrah, must we not make an exception? Is he not the once-in-a-generation outlier who renders the ‘different era’ argument moot?
Your captain knows Bumrah having an off day is about as likely as you finding a seat on a Mumbai local during rush hour. The opposition captain knows it too. They plan for a 16-over sprint, knowing safety — not bravado — is often the best way to neutralise him.
Samson grabbed the headlines with his silky 89. But India’s batting unit fired in unison. Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya all produced fearless cameos to lift India to 253.
It looked enough, even on a dewy evening, even at a venue where defending totals can be a bowling captain’s nightmare.
It looked more than enough when Bumrah removed England captain Harry Brook with one of his spitefully deceptive slower balls. India were catching everything that came their way. Axar Patel produced a blinder to remove the England captain.
Varun and Axar baited Jos Buttler and Tom Banton into attacking them and made it work in their favour.
England were 95 for 4 in the eighth over. Yes, they were keeping up with the asking rate. But wickets, a chasing side’s worst enemy, were falling too regularly.
BETHELL GOES BERSERK
Yet Bethell and Will Jacks turned the game around. Bethell took down Varun in the middle overs, sending almost everything into the stands, while Jacks offered excellent support. England raced past 150. At 172 for 4 in the 13th over, the chase suddenly looked within reach.
But Arshdeep Singh struck, sticking to his wide-yorker strategy despite leaking a couple of wides, to dismiss Jacks in the 13th over. When Axar took another stunning catch — a running relay effort at deep extra cover — the match appeared to tilt firmly back in India’s favour.
Bethell, however, refused to give up. Joined by Sam Curran, he continued to find boundaries. You could almost sense the tension in an otherwise raucous Wankhede crowd.
BUMRAH RETURNS, FINISHES IT OFF
Then Suryakumar Yadav decided to deploy his most trusted weapon.
Throughout this tournament, Bumrah had been used flexibly. At the death, though, he had usually bowled the 17th and 19th overs. On Thursday, he was handed the 16th.
England needed 69 from 30 balls. Doable, right?
Bumrah conceded just eight. A couple of wide yorkers, a low full toss, a slower-ball bouncer. A rare full toss down the leg side was flicked away for four. Even Bumrah, after all, is human.
England still refused to fade. Bethell launched into Arshdeep in the 17th over, collecting 16 runs and reducing the equation to 44 from three overs.
Again, doable.
Not when Bumrah was still around.
In his final over, he conceded just six runs. Four yorkers nailed to perfection, against a batter in sublime touch.
Done and dusted.
38 needed from two overs. India closed out the match with Pandya and Dube, their fifth and sixth-bowling options.
“We were hoping Bumrah would defend it in the final overs,” Axar said after the match. “On this pitch the margin for error was very small, but the way he bowled his yorkers and slower balls was spectacular. That’s why we call him the King. He knows how to get the job done.”
12 YEARS AND RUNNING
Everyone knows it. He does it across formats, across conditions. Even the opposition know it, yet they can do little about it.
On a surface where 499 runs were plundered, it almost felt as if Bumrah alone decided how many he would concede.
Interestingly, Bumrah is not even among the top five wicket-takers in this T20 World Cup. His spell on Thursday might not even make the highlight reels. But numbers do not always tell the full story.
It has been more than a decade since Bumrah flickered onto our screens with that unique action. Some doubted his longevity. Others thought batters would eventually figure him out.
But his skill has only sharpened. The computer upstairs, as they say, keeps upgrading.
Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop once summed it up neatly, saying Bumrah has earned such a reputation that even his bad balls are rarely punished.
“He has pace, but he also has variations — and, more importantly, he knows when to use them,” Bishop said.
“Some days he goes stump-hunting; on others he assesses conditions and mixes in the slower ball or the bouncer.
“And with that unique action he rushes batters. That’s why even some of his full tosses are harder to hit than they should be.
“When you perform like that over the years, you build a reputation. Batters respect it. He’s a generational bowler who has earned that.”
As India prepare for another World Cup final, Bumrah remains the biggest problem for the opposition. And perhaps the greatest gift to the Men in Blue.
