Bumrah highlights turning points in India's victory over Pakistan

Jasprit Bumrah identified two pivotal moments in his bowling performance that were crucial to India's remarkable comeback victory over Pakistan in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 clash at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. Bumrah's figures of 3/14 from four overs included 15 dot balls, playing a key role in Pakistan's collapse as they chased a target of 120, ultimately falling six runs short.

Pakistan initially appeared to be on a winning path, with openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan steering the team to 26 without loss by the fifth over. Bumrah broke this partnership by dismissing Babar for 13, caught by Suryakumar Yadav.

Rizwan continued to battle, moving into the thirties and keeping Pakistan in contention with 40 runs needed off 36 balls and seven wickets in hand.

Bumrah's reintroduction to the attack proved decisive. His first ball back slipped under Rizwan's bat, demolishing the stumps and igniting India's comeback. Reflecting on these crucial moments, Bumrah highlighted the significance of Babar's wicket and his third over.

"I think the first wicket was very important as well to set the base because then you start adding pressure," Bumrah began, reflecting on his impact on the result.

"If they get off to a good start on this wicket, because we didn't have a lot of runs on the board, then the pressure keeps on rising on us.

"And then that third over of mine, that was a crucial stage of that situation, the game would have been over if that would have gone Pakistan's favour.

"So that was also a crucial stage. Everybody came in and they were trying to execute what they wanted to, and they were able to do that. I think all of it's a combination of all those things that really helped us."

Bumrah also took the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed, setting the stage for Arshdeep Singh to secure the victory with a composed final over, dismissing Imad Wasim and fending off a late challenge from Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.

Acknowledging the collective effort, Bumrah praised his fellow bowlers.

"We as a bowling unit take a lot of pride in our bowling and we work very hard to develop more skills and try to help the team as much as we can. So we're very happy that we were able to do it in this game," he added.

"We as a unit are very calm and very clear on what we want. We were able to contribute and create that pressure and then we were able to get the win.

"Not at any stage did I feel that the panic had spread in the team, (or) we were looking too far ahead so that's a really positive sign for us."

This win propelled India to the top of Group A, ahead of the undefeated USA team on Net Run Rate, while Pakistan remained winless and facing an uphill battle to progress.