CHENNAI: It’s as if India got bored of their batsmen constantly dominating the headlines, and decided to flip that trend around in Auckland on Sunday.
So in came Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, spearheaded a group choke-hold of New Zealand’s batting line-up, and set up what would turn out to be a seven-wicket canter by the time proceedings came to an end at Eden Park.
“You have to hand it to (Virat) Kohli for how he used the two, and the rest of the bowlers,” observed former India pacer TA Sekhar. “That drop-in pitches (Auckland sports one) tend to get slower with limited wear and tear has become a trend. And the team read that perfectly. Bumrah and Jadeja made good use of that.”
They did that alright. It took Bumrah six deliveries in the powerplay to help India put the foot on the door, even if his wicket tally still read zero after those balls. New Zealand seemed to be setting themselves up for a flyer, with opener Martin Guptill tonking Shardul Thakur for two sixes in the very first over. Mohammed Shami too couldn’t put a lid on things in the next, with the Kiwi right-hander zeroing in on the extremely-short straight boundary for more runs.
In came Bumrah in the third. Full-steam yorkers and change-up bouncers. Just five runs sans boundaries and a sussing-up of the sponginess of the pitch; an observation that he’d go on to exploit to the hilt during the death. Pressure had been built on the hosts. Two overs later, Guptill succumbed to that pressure, trying to take on Shardul. First blow delivered with just six balls.
“What makes Bumrah a really difficult bowler to face is the fact that there’s hardly any discernible change in his action or release when he’s sending down change-ups,” explained Sekhar. “Since he’s got a very hustling action, it’s difficult to read his from his hand. That’s why his slower deliveries tend to surprise batsmen even more. He’s obviously Kohli’s go-to man. You can see how well he uses Bumrah. One over with the new ball, one in the middle overs, and two during the death. That way, he keeps impacting the match in all stages. “
As Sekhar pointed out, armed with the knowledge that the pitch was on the slower side, Bumrah literally slowed the pace of the game down, particularly during the slog overs.
That Ross Taylor’s big shots are restricted mostly to the leg-side is well-known. Bumrah coupled that with his assessment of the pitch, and went for the option that would strangle the Kiwi: cutters and slower ones outside off-stump, forcing Taylor to both generate power and go out of his comfort zone to score on the leg-side. He did the same to Tim Seifert, the other Kiwi in the middle. End result? Two overs. 12 runs. And the wicket of Taylor.
Buoyed by Bumrah, Shami’s and Shardul’s radars too zoned in on their targets. The hosts’ 132 was at least 30-odd short of what would have been a total that could have made India sweat.
But this song of Bumrah’s ice wouldn’t have been complete without Jadeja’s fire. The left-arm spinner approach to choke New Zealand was diametric to the pacer’s, but still devastatingly effective. He’s a dart machine is as open a secret as it can get. To top that, he cranked his speeds above the 100kph mark, slipping in the occasional floater as his sucker punch. Colin de Grandhomme fell to one. Kane Williamson threw his wicket away out of the frustration that Jadeja had foisted on him. New Zealand’s back had been broken just 11 overs into their innings.
“Considering the experience that he has, it was all but surprising to see Jadeja do what he did in this game,” was how Sekhar summed up the all-rounder’s outing. “When the pitch grips, you know how dangerous he can be. And that’s exactly what he did.
“But you’ve also got to give credit to the batsmen. The top-order — Kohli, (KL) Rahul and Shreyas (Iyer) — is in really good form. New Zealand have to be really wary of them.”
The way Rahul and Shreyas conquered Auckland once again, the hosts ought to start doing exactly that from the moment they land in Hamilton.