‘I might not play again’: Jasprit Bumrah makes honest admission after India’s win over Pakistan

Jasprit Bumrah was the star of the show once again for Team India as his tremendous spell of 3/14 in 4 overs meant that India managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against their eternal rivals in Pakistan in the Group A fixture of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. 

India were in all sorts of trouble in the game against Pakistan as after a  horrific show with the bat the team found themselves 119 all out and defending only a 120 runs on a much improved wicket in New York. Pakistan’s innings started out steadily but Jasprit Bumrah took a massive wicket of Babar Azam early on in the powerplay. 

However, Mohammad Rizwan was leading the charge for Pakistan and with 7 overs to go the men in green needed run a ball. It was when Jasprit Bumrah ran riot and bowled a great delivery to rattle Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps. The wicket proved to be the turning point in the match and shifted the momentum in the favour of India. 

Post the victory, Jasprit Bumrah was the man of the match and he made a big revelation regarding his career and struggle with injuries in the past couple of years after India’s remarkable win over Pakistan. 

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Jasprit Bumrah makes honest admission after IND vs PAK

In 2022, Bumrah underwent surgery for a lower back stress fracture and missed the T20 World Cup in Australia. Just before his comeback in a home bilateral series, he developed a strain and was out for more than 10 months. As a result, people became sceptical of his ability to handle the workload of three formats.

"See a year ago, the same people were saying that I might not play again and my career is over and then now the question changed. For me, I am not looking at whether I am bowling at the best of my ability. I try to solve the problem that is there in front of me. I know it's a cliched answer...but I was trying to focus on what is the best option over here on a wicket like this," said Jasprit Bumrah. 

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Jasprit Bumrah further maintained that at no stage did he give in to the situation and panicked. 

"How do I make shot-making difficult? What are the best options for me? So that way, I try to stay in the present and focus on what I have to do. Because if I look at the outside noise, if I look at people and pressure and emotion takes over, then things don't really work for me," added the pacer. 

Jasprit Bumrah further revealed that the team has transitioned from the batting friendly tracks of IPL 2024 to a much more even and challenging wicket for both batters and bowlers effectively and are up for challenge. 

"Obviously, the IPL that we played was not very bowler-friendly but we are very happy that we didn't come here with that baggage and when we are getting help here, we were trying to use it.I have played a lot of cricket in my young years. - when the bat and ball challenge is good it is more interesting to watch the match”, said Bumrah post game. 

The win takes India to four points after two games and up next for them is the matchup against the host nation of USA at the very same ground of New York. Then they will move ahead to face Canada in Florida for their final group stage fixture.  

(With PTI inputs)