Following India’s devastating defeat against New Zealand in a Super 12 game of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah explained all the reasons behind his side's dismal performance with the bat and ball.
Indian batters, according to Bumrah, were out playing aggressive strokes as they needed some additional runs on the board, which would have been a cushion due to the dew factor.
“We knew that, in the second innings, dew does play a massive factor. As a batting unit, we tried to give ourselves some cushion. We wanted to get some extra runs that could give us the advantage in the second innings. In the process, we played a lot of attacking shots and that didn’t come off today. But that was the approach as a batting unit. In the second innings, batting does get easier, so we wanted to give that cushion to the bowlers,” Bumrah told in a post-match press conference.
Moreover, Bumrah emphasized the importance of winning the toss, claiming that batting in the second innings became much simpler.
“When we bowled length balls in the second innings, it wasn’t holding in the pitch. But, in the first innings, as you must have seen, the pickup and pull shots weren’t coming off and shot-making was really difficult,” he said.
“We had a discussion over the fact that in the last game as well the wicket got better in the second innings. That’s why we wanted those extra 20-25 runs so that we could cover for the change in conditions and bowlers could get some margin. The toss became a very crucial factor and that’s why we were keen on scoring as many as we could,” the 27-year-old added.
Aside from the aforementioned factors, the speedster spoke up about rigorous schedule and tenacious bio-bubble.
“Absolutely, sometimes you need a break. You miss your family sometimes, you have been on the road for six months. All of that, at times, plays on the back of your mind. But, when you are on the field, you don’t think about all of those things. You don’t control the scheduling. Obviously, staying in a bubble for such a long period of time does play a role in the players’ minds. But this is the time we are living in, there’s a pandemic going on. We try to adapt but sometimes bio-bubble fatigue does creep in. It is the way it is, you cannot control a lot over there,” the fast-bowler asserted.
Despite this, India aren't officially out of the competition; their slim hopes of making to semis are still alive. The Men in Blue have to win all the remaining three matches against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, and have to rely on other teams matches now.
