Leeds | “I don’t take praise or criticism seriously,” says Jasprit Bumrah, who has as much modesty in him as his extraordinary bowling skills, attributing India’s run to the World Cup semi-finals to team effort.
“I don’t take praise or criticism seriously,” said the pace spearhead after centuries from Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul helped India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their last group stage World Cup game on Saturday.
“The only focus for me is on my preparation, my execution and what I can do for the team.”
Bumrah was keen to share the plaudits with the rest of the attack, even though he was the undoubted star of the bowling show during the win.
The 25-year-old from Ahmedabad joined New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and England’s Jofra Archer in third place with 17 wickets in the showpiece after claiming 3/37 from his 10 overs at Headingley.
“Everybody’s taking a lot of responsibility so that’s very good,” said Bumrah.
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“When you have extra responsibility, then you try even harder and your execution is good, so that’s a very good sign for us.
“In most of our World Cup games we’ve only had five bowlers that are bowling and it’s been going like this throughout. Everybody’s had a good run here. It’s been a good campaign for us, everybody’s chipped in with wickets, and with the bat also, so it’s been a case of so far, so good.”
Bumrah gave an equally understated response when he was asked how it felt to be receiving heaps of praise as the linchpin of India’s attack in his first World Cup.
“You see Hardik Pandya taking wickets, you see Mohammed Shami taking wickets and I’ve also taken wickets, so that’s the positive for us going forward.
“Everybody’s had a good run here. It’s been a good campaign for us, everybody has chipped in with wickets and with the bat,” said Bumrah after becoming the second-fastest Indian bowler to reach 100 wickets in one-day internationals.
“There’s a healthy competition. It’s a good headache to have when everyone’s performing and everyone’s in good nick and that’s something you love to have going into a crucial game like next week’s semi-final.”
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