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Former India player and head coach Ravi Shastri hailed Jasprit Bumrah's magnificent 2024 T20 World Cup campaign that led to some memorable moments as well as the trophy for the nation in the end. The right-arm pacer was crowned as player of the tournament for his contributions, which read 15 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 4.17.
Bumrah's campaign stands out as one of the most dominant individual ones of all time, if not the most. The pacer played a huge role in the Men in Blue's unbeaten run throughout the tournament leading them to silverware. His spell in the death during the final turned the game around for India, while he was also responsible for the turning point in the high-octane clash against Pakistan in New York during the group stage.
Both of Bumrah's aforementioned spells received special mention from Ravi Shastri, who even picked the thrilling India vs Pakistan as the game of the tournament.
“I think India-Pakistan because India were made to fight there and realise what the right combination should be going forward in the tournament. That and then of course the final, those final five overs [from the T20 World Cup final],” Shastri said on ICC Review.
“I'd say one was Jasprit [Bumrah] getting Mohammad Rizwan. Extremely crucial, because that could have tilted the balance of the game. And it happened on the first ball of a new spell,” he added.
Ravi Shastri elaborated on what made Bumrah stand out during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“He just showed the world what it takes and you know, it's not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, do this and the ball does that. Very few have done it, I thought Wasim [Akram] and Waqar [Younis] had it in their prime when they played white-ball cricket. Shane Warne had it where he could literally tell the ball, go there, pitch there, hit leg stump. People who are on top of the game have that ability. I think Bumrah had that in this World Cup," Shastri remarked.
Bumrah was introduced into the attack in the final when South Africa needed only 30 runs off the final five overs. The pacer conceded only six runs off his remaining two overs and dismissed Marco Jansen with a stunning delivery as well.
"For someone to recover that quickly and then move the way he did" - Ravi Shastri hails Rishabh Pant's comeback
Rishabh Pant got fast-tracked into the Indian side on the back of a strong 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He had not played cricket since December 2022 due to the horrific car accident, but looked at ease in his comeback, and had a special role in the playing XI during Team India's dream run at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The wicketkeeper-batter was slotted in at No.3, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opening the innings. Pant made the most of the promotion by playing some crucial knocks with tempo for India, especially on tough surfaces in the tournament.
“He did his job with the bat, but it was his keeping that really surprised everyone. For someone to recover that quickly and then move the way he did. He hardly missed anything, albeit he must have felt the pressure as the tournament got on because it's not easy to come back and do all the stuff he did,” Shastri said.
Pant scored 171 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 127.61 but was unfortunately dismissed for a duck in the final.
