AHMEDABAD: Kuldeep Yadav had already bowled six overs on the trot in his spell. A lone first over just after the power play — it was clear that the pitch wasn’t going to aid him that much — notwithstanding India captain Rohit Sharma having used the wrist spinner to hold one end.
At that point (after 32 overs), Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had ensured that the sea of blue, with close to 1 lakh fans rooting against them, had stayed quiet. The duo had added 82 runs for the third wicket, and Azam had already got to his fifty before getting out to Mohammed Siraj. Saud Shakeel had just joined Rizwan by the time the second drink break came up.
The packed partisan crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was getting behind the Men in Blue. Pakistan were 162/3 and in came Kuldeep for his seventh over of the spell, eighth overall. Through the spell, Kuldeep had varied his pace and length, keeping the batters quiet and even almost got Azam out. He hadn’t taken any wicket but had played a significant role in ensuring Pakistan weren’t running away with the game. You could sense that he could get one anytime. The first ball of the 33rd over was a googly outside off which was hit by Shakeel to extra cover. The second one, Shakeel stayed on backfoot and defended. The ball skidded on and trapped the pads. The umpire didn’t give it, but India reviewed and the three reds went off, bringing Iftikhar Ahmed to the middle. A leg break, a short-ball that was hit for four. another leg break that beat the bat later, he struck again. This time it was a googly outside leg-stump, that hit Ahmed’s gloves and rolled onto the stumps. In a span of six balls, Kuldeep had turned the game on its head.
Sharma sensed an opportunity. He brought back his strike bowler — Jasprit Bumrah. The bowler who has been making up for the 12 months he missed, the bowler who had been reminding everyone what world cricket had been deprived of since he came back in the Asia Cup. The bowler who was playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, in the city where he grew up in. Bumrah came on for his second spell and kept attacking the length outside off-stump. When he strayed to the stumps, Rizwan took a single before coming back on strike for the final delivery of the 34th over. He had been struggling to keep going after entering the 40s. He had been searching for his fifty.
Bumrah, in his element, did what he does best. He delivered a slow off-cutter, almost similar to what Zaheer Khan did to Michael Hussey in the 2011 World Cup, the ball went between the bat and pad and clipped the bails. Rizwan had to take the long walk back at 49. It was a bonafide Bumrah special. He did it in MCG 2018, and Lord’s 2021, but Ahmedabad 2023 was different. The entire stadium aroused and roared in such a way that you could have heard it in Goyal Intercity society — where he grew up. Eight balls later, Bumrah did one better. He bowled the perfect delivery — a length ball pitching on middle-stump, straightened enough to take the off-stump — to send Shadab Khan back to the dressing room. In a span of 20 deliveries, Pakistan had slumped from 162/3 to 171/7.
From there on, there was no looking back as they crumbled to 191 all out in 42.5 overs. Bumrah finished with 2/19 while Kuldeep took 2/35. "I was bowling very well. Rizwan didn't sweep me a lot so I wanted to make him play the bad shot. I've been watching Saud Shakeel the last couple of games and he'd been trying to sweep a lot. He thought that ball was slow but it skidded on,” Kuldeep told broadcasters after the first innings.
Ever since Sharma took over as captain, both Kuldeep and Bumrah have been the talking points. The former for the backing the captain is giving and his rhythm, and the latter for his injury and comeback. Over the past few weeks, both Kuldeep and Bumrah have shown why they are a class apart and why the team management is backing them. And come the big match, come the occasion against Pakistan, both stepped up to put India on the front foot.
Sharma did the rest during the chase, taking Pakistan bowlers to cleaners in the first ten overs. Picking up from where he left in New Delhi, he smashed 86 runs in 63 balls as India beat Pakistan by seven wickets. While the contest might not have lived up to the hype, Kuldeep, Bumrah and Sharma ensured that all those who filled up the stadium went home with the experience of a lifetime.
How they set it up
Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah sucked the life out of Pakistan's batting in a span of about 20 balls. How did it happen?
33rd over — Kuldeep had kept it quiet throughout bowling 17 dot balls in his first five overs. Now, with a new batter, he invited Saud Shakeel outside off before bowling a straight one that skidded on and trapped the pads. With Iftikhar Ahmed, he had luck going his way as the batter gloved a down the leg delivery that rolled onto the stumps.
34th over — With pressure on Pakistan, captain Sharma brought on Bumrah right away and the pacer kept frustrating Mohammad Rizwan with tight lines. On the final delivery, Bumrah decided to take off the pace, bowling the perfect off-cutter. It pitched and moved into Rizwan, beating his bat and pad and clipping this stumps.