Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has ruthlessly issued an ultimatum to former teammate Jasprit Bumrah and asked him not to bowl slow balls in the death overs. India cannot afford to have their premier bowler disadvantaged under any clause and that is Ashwin’s biggest concern.
India did not put in an overall amazing performance against West Indies when it mattered most. Fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was not among the wickets, while the same happened with Axar Patel. Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakraborty were hit by runs.
However, the worst that could have happened for India was that their leading bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, was given runs in the death overs. During the death overs, Bumrah gave runs at an economy of around 12 and took 2/36 in his 4 overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin on Jasprit Bumrah: His slow ball is getting picked easily.
India had many flaws in the match against West Indies, such as their poor catching, bowlers not bowling according to the field, early dismissals of left-handed top order batsmen and their frontline spinners giving runs at an economy of more than 10.
However, the biggest problem for former veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is that India’s champion fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is being given too many runs in the death overs and he has attributed this to his easily read slow balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, “Bumrah can definitely avoid bowling the slower ball in the death overs. I am a big fan and friend of Bumrah, but his slower ball is being picked up easily. His run-up when he is ready to bowl the slower ball makes it easy to catch it on TV.”
In his overall performance, Bumrah has still been one of the best players for India with 9 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 14 and an economy of 6.30. However, Ashwin believes that he should stick to his yorkers and length stock balls in the death overs.
He said, “Although Roston Chase did not choose it in the last game, many teams in this tournament have chosen his slower ball. The reason is that he has less pace on that ball. This could be for a number of reasons; he is not getting any younger.”
Ravichandran Ashwin has confidence in Varun Chakravarthy and supports him against English batsmen
Ravichandran Ashwin has also raised serious questions on the ability of England batsmen to deal with leg spin. Hence, he has backed Varun Chakravarthy for the semi-final clash despite his recent struggles with the ball.
Ravichandran Ashwin (via the above source) said, “His googly is going for runs, and he has missed his length in this tournament. But in the recent bilateral series, the England batsmen did not pick him at all. They had no idea where Varun was bowling.”
Despite making a good start to the tournament with 9 wickets in the group stage, Varun lost form and took 3 wickets in as many matches in the Super-8 and gave away runs at an economy above 10.
India and England will play their third consecutive T20 World Cup semi-final
In the context of the T20 World Cup, this is the third consecutive time that two teams, India and England, have qualified for the knockouts of the ICC tournament in the shortest format of the game, and not only that, but have also faced each other in the semi-finals.
First, in 2022, India suffered a massive 10-wicket defeat against the British and clinched the title. Next time, in 2024, India defeated England by a huge margin of runs and then the Men in Blue lifted the trophy.
This is the third consecutive T20 World Cup in which India will face England in the semi-finals. Is it possible that the winner of this competition will win the title? only time will tell.
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