We gave away runs at the death overs, and that made the difference: Jasprit Bumrah

After resting them for the first two ODIs against the Windies, India were forced to go back to their premier fast bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Paceman Mohammed Shami has been dropped for the remainder of the series, while Umesh Yadav was rested for the Pune ODI on Saturday. Bumrah, the no.1 ODI bowler in the world, was impressive on his international return but his partner didn’t have the best of days with the ball.

Bumrah returned figures of 4/35 from his 10 overs but Bhuvneshwar went wicketless and leaked as many as 70 runs in the first innings. However, the game didn’t start poorly for Bhuvi – he played his part in keeping the Windies scoring rate in check throughout the middle overs. It was in the crucial death overs that India lost the plot.

The visitors were expected to get no more than 250, but the penultimate over of the innings saw Ashley Nurse slamming Bhuvi for 21 runs, propelling the total to 283. The Windies eventually got 45 runs off the final five overs and posted a fighting total to level the series.

There’s no guaranteed success when bowling at the death

Jasprit Bumrah defended his bowling partner, but at the same time admitted that they gave away a few too many runs at the death. Speaking at the post-match press conference, he said, “I think we bowled well as a unit. Till 35 overs, we were pretty good. Yes, we gave up a little bit of runs in the end. Maybe that could be the difference. Overall, the bowling performance was not too bad. They played really well. You have to give credit to the batsmen when they’ve played well. It’s a combination of both.”

“Bhuvneshwar started well. It happens in the end. When you bowl at the death, it’s difficult. It’s not necessary every bowler will click everyday. Everyone has his day. We did give away some extra runs in the end but in a way they batted as well. The position where we bowl, there’s no guaranteed success. Some days it won’t go well, some days it will,” the 24-year old said.

Bumrah’s last international appearance before the Pune ODI was the final of the Asia Cup 2018. He was rested for the two-match Test series against the Windies which India clinched 2-0. With 3 ODIs done and dusted, the series currently stands at 1-1. Both teams will now travel to Mumbai for the 4th ODI at the Brabourne Stadium, with the series ending in Thiruvananthapuram.

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