Gros Islet (St Lucia), June 25
After India's strategic brilliance and adaptability to challenging conditions propelled them to a 24-run victory over Australia in the Super match of the T20 World Cup, pacer Arshdeep Singh gave credit to Jasprit Bumrah for his brilliant bowling throughout the tournament.
Arshdeep dismissed the dangerous David Warner in the first over, setting the tone for India's bowling attack. His crucial wickets of big-hitters Tim David and Matthew Wade in the death overs were pivotal in stalling Australia's chase.
With figures of 3 for 37, Arshdeep not only bagged the most wickets for India in the match but also climbed to the second spot in the tournament's wicket-takers charts with 15 wickets in six games with Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi sitting on top with 16 wickets in seven games.
The 25-year-old left-arm pacer was quick to attribute much of his success to pace spearhead Bumrah. "I guess a lot of credit goes to Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah) because he puts a lot of pressure on the batters - he gives, what, three or four runs in an over - so batters are coming hard against me, and I just have to try and bowl my best ball and there are a lot of chances of getting wickets there," Arshdeep said.
"On the other end they see the runs are not coming and the asking rate is going high, so they take more risks against me. [There's a] chance always of getting a wicket there. So a lot of credit for my wickets goes to Jassi bhai," he added.
Skipper Rohit Sharma's electrifying 41-ball 92 followed by contributions from Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed 31 off 16 balls, and Hardik Pandya, who added a vital 27* off 17 balls help India post formidable total of 205/5 in 20 overs.
The breeze played a significant role in the game, influencing both batting and bowling strategies. Speaking on the challenge of bowling with the wind, the pacer said, "From the end opposite the pavilion, we got a lot of swing. From the other end, bowling against the wind… the batters were going to use the wind since the ball was travelling. So we had to look for defensive options there and not allow the wind to come into play."
Australia's chase was spearheaded by Travis Head, who struck a valiant 76 off 43 balls. The Aussies looked in control at 128 for 2 in the 14th over, but the tide turned dramatically when Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Glenn Maxwell and Axar Patel removed Marcus Stoinis in consecutive overs. Suddenly, Australia found themselves struggling at 135 for 4, needing 71 runs from the final six overs.
Arshdeep further highlighted the clarity in India's strategy during this crucial phase. "The thought process was clear. Our batters also batted on the same wicket, and early on it was easy to score runs, the ball was coming on nicely. But afterwards, it became tough to hit boundaries.
"We knew if we took a couple of wickets, it would be tough for the new batters coming in to hit boundaries at will. That was the plan. A couple of nice overs from the spinners in the middle overs helped us," he concluded.
India's spirited bowling effort restricted Australia to 181/7 in 20 overs and sealed a semi-final berth with unbeaten run in the tournament.
