In the ninth match of the ODI World Cup campaign, India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets and got their second consecutive win in this 2023 ODI World Cup campaign. There is no doubt that skipper Rohit Sharma got a solid hundred but in bowling it was Jasprit Bumrah who kept the base of India’s win with his 4-wicket haul.
Meanwhile, the former Indian opener and now a renowned commentator Aakash Chopra has praised Bumrah for his brilliant bowling that too on a pitch which does not support the seamers much.
Bumrah delivered an impressive performance, taking 4 wickets for 39 runs in his allotted 10 overs. This fine bowling display by the Indian cricket team limited the Afghanistan team to a total of 272/8 on a flat and unresponsive pitch. In the chase, Rohit Sharma played a blistering innings, scoring 131 runs from just 84 balls. With this India finished the match in 35 overs only and got a convincing win.
While talking on his official Youtube Channel, Aakash Chopra said that Bumrah should have got the man of the match award instead of Rohit Sharma.
The former opener said,”He (Bumrah) should have been the Player of the Match in my opinion for the simple reason that he picked up four wickets on a road-like pitch where bowlers say they don’t want to play and ask someone else to be given the ball.”
Aakash Chopra said that Bumrah got the crucial wickets at the right time for the team.
“He picked up wickets with the new ball, middle overs and at the death – he delivers consistently,” Chopra elaborated. “The opposing team batted well, whether it was Azmatullah Omarzai or Hashmatullah Shahidi, and little batting from Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the start, but he picked up wickets at regular intervals.”
He further added,”He picked up four wickets and hardly gave any runs in his 10 overs. A pitch and ground on which Mohammed Siraj got hit for 76 runs in his nine overs, he picked up four wickets and conceded 35-odd runs. In my opinion, there is no doubt that Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler in the world at the moment.”
