Jasprit Bumrah has been brilliantly leading Team India’s new-ball attack in the ongoing World Cup 2023. The right-arm quick is currently the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 14 wickets in 6 games. It was just a year ago when a stress fracture in his back sidelined him from major tournaments, eventually putting his future in doubt.
Bumrah’s absence left a noticeable void within the Indian team which suffered heart-wrenching defeats in T20 World Cup 2022 and the World Test Championship 2023 Final. While he was rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), the fans on social media made a mockery of his recovery and even questioned his intent to play for the country.
ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets
But came the Ireland tour in August 2023 where he led the side in a T20I series before proving his mettle in the Asia Cup and finding a spot in India’s World Cup squad.
The 29-year-old did come across all the social media trolling and criticism but they hardly impacted his will to return in Indian colours. Speaking with Sky Sports after India thrashed England by 100 runs in Lucknow, Burmah said he was unfazed by the outside noise and came back to play for India with a great headspace.
“My wife [the TV sports presenter Sanjana Ganesan] also works in the sports-media department. So yeah, I heard a lot of question marks on my career that I will never come back and all of that, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m very happy,” Bumrah told Sky Sports.
“I came back and I realised how much I love playing the game. I was not chasing anything. Great headspace was there when I came back from the injury. So yeah, eventually I’m looking at the positives and trying to enjoy as much as you can,” he added.
India on Sunday stunned the defending champions with a 100-run win in Lucknow. Though the batting line was under the pump for a while, impactful knocks from Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav helped the hosts post a 229-run total before the pacers mowed down the English side.
“It was good challenge for us that we were put under pressure. We lost a little bit of early wickets. We had to squeeze in and in the field as well, we had to put in a lot of effort. So yeah, very happy with the result. It was really good for us because we’ve been fielding first and we’ve been doing that for a while now. Because [India chased] in the previous series as well, which I played,” Bumrah said.
Comments
0 comment