Ravi Shastri heaps praise on his ‘thinking bowler’ Jasprit Bumrah

After India could post a small target of 68 from 64 balls in the first innings of the last T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, Virat Kohli and company needed some absolutely brilliant bowling to keep the Kiwis at bay. And with the game reduced to just eight overs with each bowler allowed a maximum of two, the skipper knew that just the man he would turn to in such pressure situation. Jasprit Bumrah started the attack for India alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar and though all contributed significantly to the win, it was Bumrah’s superb performance with figures of 2/9 that led India to a thrilling six-run win, and the series 2-1.

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri was immensely pleased by the Gujarat pacer's variation of bowling under pressure, stating, “Outstanding temperament from Bumrah. He's shown he's got all the tools of the trade. But importantly, what he's shown that he's a thinking bowler.”  

The series deciders in both the ODI and T20I series went right down to the wire with New Zealand bottling it up right at the end. However, Tuesday’s game had kept the crowd and the India dugout way more tensed than the third ODI in Kanpur. Shastri too acknowledged it and admitted that it wasn’t a match-winning score but reinstated that the full side had belief they could do it.

“You'll be lying if you say you aren't tense. Such games can change in the matter of 2-3 balls, said Shastri, “Boys saved the best for last in terms of fielding.”

“There was electricity on the field. We thought we could defend it. After we lost a couple of wickets, our aim was to get 65. By no means, it's a match-winning score, but if you field well and start well, the pressure is on the opposition."