Was confident Jasprit Bumrah would do the job, asserts Ashish Nehra

What’s the story?

Veteran seamer Ashish Nehra has exuded praise on Jasprit Bumrah for his stellar performance in the second T20I against England at Nagpur. While the experienced left-armer picked up three wickets to deflate the visitors’ hopes, the 23-year old pacer’s brilliant death-overs spell helped India pull off a miraculous five-run victory and take the series to a decider.

During the post-match press conference, Nehra said, “When you are bowling at the death (overs), especially in this format, you have to back yourself. This is not the first time that me and Bumrah bowled at the death. However, it’s always difficult for two bowlers to bowl four overs in the end with a wet ball. (Even though) only 8 runs were needed in the last over, he still did the job.”

The 37-year-old added, “I personally feel as a bowler, it’s the mental toughness (which is important). In T20s, the game changes ball by ball. I was confident, especially after (Jos) Buttler got out, Jasprit is going to do the job. He is somebody I have been playing with in T20s over the last one year. He backs himself (in the end overs). I always told him that you have to back yourself when you are bowling at the death.”

In case you didn’t know...

Bumrah came into this game on the back of some indifferent form. His figures in the 3-match ODI series read – 2/79, 2/81 and 1/68. Even in the first T20I, he went for more than eight runs per over in a low-scoring affair.

The heart of the matter

At the start of the chase, Nehra put England on the backfoot by removing Sam Billings and Jason Roy in successive deliveries. However, Joe Root and Ben Stokes resuscitated the innings by batting with diligence.

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When the game appeared to be slowly slipping away from India’s grasp, the veteran produced a timely breakthrough by trapping Stokes with a well-disguised slower one. Bumrah capitalised on the window of opportunity by unleashing an assortment of cutters and back of length deliveries to seal the game for his team.

What’s next?

The series decider will take place on Wednesday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With a truer pitch and shorter boundaries facilitating big scores, it will be interesting to see how the seamers formulate their plans.

Sportskeeda's Take

Bumrah’s emergence as a dependable death overs bowler has indeed filled a deep void in India’s white-ball game. This performance should give him immense confidence and his presence will be critical for the Men in Blue during their Champions Trophy defence in June.