In the end, it turned out to be a contest that lived up to all the India-Pakistan hype. One man that stood out of the crowd was India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, arguably one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket, but for his skipper Rohit Sharma, the right-arm pacer is a “genius with the ball.
Rohit was effusive in his praise for his bowling unit that helped India successfully defend 119—the lowest total between the two rivals in T20 World Cup history—but felt that the Indians fell 15-20 runs short on that tricky New York pitch.
“We didn’t bat well enough. Halfway through, we were in a good position, 80 for 3 (21 for 3). You expect guys to form partnerships, but we didn’t put enough partnerships there. I thought we fell 15–20 short. We spoke about how every run matters on a pitch like that. We were looking at 140, but I thought the bowlers could do the job for us,” Rohit said.
As for Pakistan, they went from 80 for 3 at the start of the 15th over to 113 for 7 after 20 to fall six short, thanks largely to Bumrah, who got India back into the game with the crucial breakthrough of Mohammed Rizwan to trigger the collapse.
“We felt we were a little under par. When the sun came out, the wicket got a bit better. We had to be disciplined in what we were trying to do. I tried to keep it simple; the wicket got better, and the swing was less. So, I tried to hit the seam as much as I could. I just tried to be clear with my plan and focused on my execution,” Bumrah said.
Rohit talked up India’s “never-say-die” attitude on a New York surface he felt was “good” compared to those in the earlier games.