India’s Jasprit Bumrah hugs teammate Sanju Samson (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan hails star pacer Jasprit Bumrah after his decisive spell in India’s thrilling semi-final victory over England cricket team in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.Describing Bumrah as a rare talent, Pathan said on his YouTube channel that India should consider itself lucky to have a bowler of his calibre. The former pacer highlighted Bumrah’s complete skill set and his remarkable ability to deliver under pressure at the biggest moments.
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“I have talked about Bumrah many times and I will say it again. We are lucky to have a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah playing for India. India has never had a bowler like him. Maybe the world has rarely seen a bowler like him. He has everything including yorkers, slower balls, outswing, inswing and bouncers. He also knows how to bowl under pressure in his channel very well.India had earlier amassed a massive 253/7 after being put into bat, thanks in large part to Sanju Samson’s superb 42-ball 89. However, England remained firmly in the chase for most of the innings, powered by a brilliant century from Jacob Bethell.With England still chasing the target at the end of the innings, Bumrah created the decisive moment in the 18th over. At the start of the over, England needed 45 runs from the last three overs, but Bumrah conceded just six runs and delivered four accurate yorkers. The pressure was then turned on by Hardik Pandya, who bowled an excellent penultimate over which cost just nine runs and also claimed Sam Curran. England eventually finished on 246/7, seven runs behind India’s total.Earlier in the innings, Bumrah also delivered a tight 16th over, giving away just eight runs and further tightening India’s grip in the closing stages.Pathan felt that Bumrah’s efforts deserved the Man of the Match award, especially as he bowled the toughest overs on a batting surface where runs flowed freely.“In my opinion, Jasprit Bumrah should have been Man of the Match. If you watched the game, you would have noticed that every other bowler had an economy rate of around 10. Some were even above 10 or close to 15. 500 runs were scored on such a flat pitch. He who does a difficult job in such conditions is the real Man of the Match who does Jasprim. overs,” he said.Pathan also highlighted Bumrah’s tactical awareness, pointing out how the paceman outworked Harry Brook with clever variation rather than pace.“When he came to bowl again, the first batsman he faced was Harry Brook. He didn’t try to play fast because he has a great cricketing mind. He trapped Harry Brook with a slower ball on the first delivery. Bumrah could have bowled a yorker or a bouncer on the first delivery and played on his ego which thought, ‘I’m Jasprit Bumrah’.” But he doesn’t. He understands the pitch, the conditions and reads the shot very well. He knew Harry Brook liked the pace. So instead of giving him pace, he trapped him with a slower delivery which eventually led to Axar Patel taking the catch.”India’s innings was built on Samson’s explosive knock of 89 off 42 balls, which included eight fours and seven sixes. Valuable contributions also came from Shivam Dube (43 off 25), Ishan Kishan (39 off 18), Pandya (27 off 12) and Tilak Varma (21 off 7) as India posted an impressive 253/7 in their 20 overs.England were struggling at 95/4 at one point before Bethell’s aggressive 105 off 48 balls along with 77 runs with Will Jacks (35 off 20) brought them back into the contest. A short 19-run four-ball blitz from Jofra Archer almost turned the game in England’s favour, but India managed to hold their nerve in the closing moments.With the win, India booked their place in the finals of the tournament where they will face the New Zealand national cricket team at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8 as they look to clinch another major ICC title.
