Bumrah’s blunder

Gaurav Joshi

London, June 18

Jasprit Bumrah has a tendency to bowl no-balls.  During this year’s IPL, he bowled the most no-balls, including one in a super over against Gujarat Lions. It’s become a sort of habit with him, and the Indian think tank should have taken a close look at it. 

A day before the final, Bumrah and coach Anil Kumble walked over to the practice pitches and worked on a few areas of his game. Green markers were placed on the good length area, and Bumrah attempted to hit those off a short run-up. The pacer hit the markers regularly but continued to overstep during the process. Bumrah might have been coming off a shorter run-up, but Kumble should have noticed that he was overstepping. To be fair, Kumble was stationed behind the starting point of the bowler’s run-up, but such things can’t be missed. It went on for 15-20 minutes, and Bumrah crossed the line most of the times. 

Bowlers do experiment with deliveries in the nets but they can’t forget or ignore  the basics like keeping their front foot behind the crease while doing so. Bumrah made the mistake, and allowed the bad habit to creep back ahead of the big final. He overstepped thrice in the match. The first of three occasions hurt India really bad — it offered a lifeline to centurion Fakhar Zaman, who was on just three then.

Captains Speak

I want to congratulate Pakistan, they had an amazing tournament. The way they turned things around speaks volumes about the talent they have. They proved it again, they can upset anyone on their day, disappointing for us but I have a smile on my face because we played well to reach the final. Credit to them, they outplayed us in all departments. —Virat Kohli, India Captain

After the first match against India, I said to my boys the tournament is not finished yet. We played very well and now we have won the final. Fakhar Zaman is a great impact player. In his first ICC event, he played like a champion, he can be a great player for Pakistan. All credit goes to my bowlers -- Amir, Hassan Ali, Shadab, Junaid, Hafeez, they bowled really well. —Sarfraz Ahmed,  Pakistan Captain

Scoreboard
Pakistan 
A Ali run out 59
F Zaman c R Jadeja b H Pandya 114
B Azam c Y Singh b K Jadhav 46
S Malik c K Jadhav b B Kumar 12
M Hafeez not out 57
I Wasim not out 25
Extras: (LB-9, WD-13, NB-3) 25
Total: (4 wickets in 50 overs) 338
FOW: 1-128, 2-200, 3-247, 4-267
Bowling
B Kumar 10-2-44-1
J Bumrah 9-0-68-0
R Ashwin 10-0-70-0
H Pandya 10-0-53-1
R Jadeja 8-0-67-0
K Jadhav 3-0-27-1

India
R Sharma lbw b M Amir 0
S Dhawan c S Ahmed b M Amir 21
V Kohli c S Khan b M Amir 5
Y Singh lbw b S Khan 22
M Dhoni c I Wasim b H Ali 4
K Jadhav c S Ahmed b S Khan 9
H Pandya run out (M Hafeez/H Ali) 76
R Jadeja c B Azam b J Khan 15
R Ashwin c S Ahmed b H Ali 1
B Kumar not out 0
J Bumrah c S Ahmed b H Ali 1
Extras: (LB 2, W 1) 3
Total: (all out; 30.3 overs) 158
FOW:1-0, 2-6, 3-33, 4-54, 5-54, 6-72, 7-152, 8-156, 9-156, 10-158
Bowling
M Amir  6-2-16-3
J Khan 6-1-20-1
M Hafeez 1-0-13-0
H Ali 6.3-1-19-3
S Khan 7-0-60-2
I Wasim 0.3-0-3-0
F Zaman 3.3-0-25-0
Man of the match:  Fakhar Zaman