Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya speak about handling pressure after a thrilling win

Jasprit Bumrah had been a mainstay of the Indian bowling lineup in the limited overs for a while now. Whether it had been skipper MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, or his IPL captain Rohit Sharma, all of them have relished bowling Bumrah at the death. He has been their go-to bowler whenever the situation demanded quick wickets.

India went on to seal the T20 international series 2-1 against New Zealand following a fantastic bowling performance. As Jasprit Bumrah ended up winning both the man of the match as well as the series, he spoke about how he doesn’t think about pressure, bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and their plans.

I just don’t think much about pressure at all

“If you think about pressure, you won’t be able to deliver. So, I just don’t think much about pressure at all,” Bumrah said during the presentation ceremony.

Speaking about his plan with Bhuvneshwar Kumar as in how to bowl the Kiwi batsmen, Bumrah remarked that while the visitors were able to grip the slower ones, they couldn’t and hence stuck to bowling yorkers and back of length deliveries.

“The slower delivery was gripping, so we wanted to stick to a basic plan. Bhuvi and I had a chat before their innings about what was going to work. In the first innings, we saw New Zealand bowling the slower ones, but those bowled by us weren’t gripping. So, we had to bowl back of a length and mix it up with yorkers.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking too much. I was just focusing on every ball and on executing them.” He further told.

Ravi Shastri all praise for Bumrah

Indian coach Ravi Shastri was extremely pleased with the way Bumrah bowled throughout the series as he lauded him for his temperament.

“Outstanding temperament from Bumrah… He has shown that he’s got all the tools of the trade. He knows the tricks. Importantly, he’s shown that he’s a thinking bowler. That matters a lot,” Shastri stated.

Hardik Pandya claims his finger is alright for the time being

The versatile all-rounder was in a spot of bother in the last over as he was hit on the finger. However, Hardik Pandya remarked at the end of the game, “At the moment, it’s okay. I might feel the pain later.”

Given the responsibility of bowling the final over defending 19 runs, it was always going to be a tough task. He ended up conceding 12 runs as India managed to keep their nerves in what was a thrilling finish at Thiruvananthapuram.

“I got to know in the seventh over that I will be bowling the final over. It was tougher to hit the fast bowlers than the spinners. I had to keep my calm and wanted to stick to my plan.”

Pandya stated his mindset during the final regarding how the situation would pan out and was even ready to go for a few hits.

“It is important to have a cool mind and think positive. It’s also crucial to back yourself. I knew one or two might go for a six, but we had the runs to defend,” Pandya said.