ICC World Cup 2019 | Was not thinking of it as my first World Cup game, says Jasprit Bumrah

Wednesday’s game at Southampton between India and South Africa was Jasprit Bumrah’s first ever World Cup match and he could not have asked for a better start. After South Africa had opted to bat first, Bumrah was the wrecker in chief as he dismissed both the openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock cheaply. The pacer bowled 23 dot balls in his first five overs and reckoned that he was just taking the match as a normal game. 

"I wasn't thinking about this being my first World Cup game, I was thinking of it as just another game of cricket. I tried to focus on what I always do” he said, reported Cricbuzz.

The sun was out when the game started and the pitch was not very green, which hovered the expectations for a run fest. But Bumrah had different plans as he kept on bowling in the right areas to trouble the batsmen, as pointed out by himself.

“It was nice to have little bit of help (from the pitch). When you have some help, don't try to do too much. Just bowl good hard lengths, that was the plan and I tried to stick to it. We were just thinking about what our strengths are and what we could do as a bowling unit. The pitch offered a little help, so we were trying to use that to our advantage,” explained the 25-year-old. 

The pacer, who ended up with the most economical 10-over spell of 35 for two in this tournament so far, was delighted with the win in the first game as the momentum plays a big role in long tournaments like these.

"You always want to start well in a big tournament like this. When you do, it's a positive for the team and you don't have to play catch-up. If start is slow, you are always catching up, but we prepared well and it's very satisfying to start with a win." remarked the Gujarat player.

Bumrah made his ODI debut for India in January 2016 on the back of his performance in the Indian Premier League and domestic cricket. Many experts believed that he will struggle with injuries due to his bowling action. However, he has gone leap and bounds since then to emerge as the top-ranked bowler. The Ahmedabad-born player believes that taking inspiration from every bowler has enabled him to dominate like he has.

"You can learn from any bowler in the world. Whether that's a first-class game or an international. I always keep an eye on what is happening all over, so that maybe I can learn and add things to my armoury. There's no harm in learning. For example, if you tell me there's a perfect action in the world, I'll try to copy that. Every fast bowler faces injury issues so I just maintain what I have and try to make my body strong,” Bumrah signed off.