Jasprit Bumrah is India’s key weapon as they aim to win their third T20 World Cup on Sunday. With his ability to bowl yorkers at will, he will carry the dreams of over a billion cricket fans in the nation.
The team’s success, including their close victory over England in a high-scoring semi-final on Thursday in Mumbai, has been largely attributed to Bumrah’s death-over bowling.
When India captain Suryakumar Yadav trusted Bumrah for a crucial 18th over, his final one, England needed 45 from 18 balls to chase a record 254 with Jacob Bethell hammering sixes for fun.
While Bethell and Sam Curran managed just six runs, the right-arm fast hit three immaculate yorkers, two low full-tosses, and a full ball. Despite Bethell’s 105, England suffered a heartbreaking defeat by just seven runs, and it was the pivotal over in a contest where bowlers had been thrashed to all parts of the ground.
In a contest where 499 runs were scored at Wankhede Stadium, Bumrah, who bowls with an unconventional front-on slingshot movement, returned figures of 1/33 from his four overs.
Since making his debut for India in 2016, the seasoned bowler known as “Boom Boom” has taken 117 wickets at an economy rate of 6.55 in 94 T20 outings. Bumrah will play in Sunday’s final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, his hometown, as India aims to become the first team to win the trophy at home and the first to defend it.
Bumrah developed his unique bowling approach as a child while practicing in a small parking lot close to his family’s home in Ahmedabad. After a career-threatening back injury that plagued him in 2022 and 2023, Bumrah made his comeback to the Indian team last year.
Bumrah had a key role in India’s victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados, where he prevented South Africa from scoring 30 runs off the final 30 balls to win the final.
Bumrah has been a mainstay for almost ten years with his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians, where the seeds of his brilliance were first planted.
Former New Zealand batsman and ex-India head coach John Wright recruited the pace bowler to Mumbai after scouting him from his home state of Gujarat in 2013 when the Mumbai Indians won the first of their five IPL titles.
In his debut match, Bumrah dismissed RCB star Virat Kohli and he hasn’t looked back since.
