Former India head coach Ravi Shastri shared that Jasprit Bumrah is a magician with the ball and said the pacer’s memorable moment in the T20 World Cup in the Americas was when India dismantled Pakistan’s charge in the group stage and India did well in the final against South Africa. However, India managed to defend a paltry 119 in their Group A clash against Pakistan, winning the contest by six runs with Bumrah changing the momentum by getting rid of the dangerous Mohammad Rizwan to send Pakistan into a free fall when they were playing along nicely at 80/3 as well.

Bumrah then bowled a game-changing spell against South Africa in the final at Barbados, conceding just four runs in the 16th over before getting rid of the dangerous-looking Marco Jansen to dismantle the rivals in the chase of 176.

“He (Bumrah) 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’,” Shastri said in the ICC Review. “I think the India-Pakistan (match) 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 (T20 World Cup) final, those final five overs,” said Shastri.

Rohit Sharma also unleashed Jasprit Bumrah in the death overs on the well-set Rizwan and the wicket turned the table. Shastri also said that his other favourite moment was when Bumrah sent back Jansen as well.

ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya shares happiness after winning back the love of fans

“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. “Brought back into the attack and then getting it to reverse and sneak through bat and pad (of Marco Jansen), I thought that was a very, very important wicket at that time,” Shastri recalled.

However, Jansen was the sixth South Africa wicket to fall in the 18th over with the South Africans requiring 21 runs for victory off 15 balls as well. Before that all-rounder Hardik Pandya dismissed Heinrich Klaasen in the 17th over, caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant as well.

“Hardik (Pandya) had done the main damage by taking Klaasen (in the previous over) but I thought back-to-back, that over and that wicket was extremely important.” Bumrah was adjudged ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his 15 wickets at an average of 8.26. “Very few have done it (change the flow of the game). 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,” he added.

ALSO READ: “Shubman’s captaincy is very good” – Ravi Bishnoi on Shubman Gill

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri also lauded Suryakumar Yadav’s stunning catch on the boundary to dismiss David Miller and reduce South Africa to 161/7 with just five deliveries remaining in the final as well.

“I think that (catch) was a game changer because you know what David (Miller) can do,” Shastri said. “Another big shot (from Miller), and then, you know, the game’s in the balance. So, I thought the timing couldn’t have been better.” Shastri said. “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.”