Batters played attacking shots to give bowlers cushion, says Bumrah

India's only wicket-taker in the tournament so far said that the batting unit tried shore up a few extra runs that would give the bowlers some cushion as the dew made bowling more difficult in the second innings.

Bumrah's two scalps against New Zealand on Sunday are the only two wickets India has managed to take so far in the tournament.

Jasprit Bumrah, India’s only wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup 2021 so far, tried his best to defend a lacklustre display by India’s batting unit against New Zealand in a Super 12 game on Sunday.

“As a batting unit, what we were trying to do is that we know in the second innings dew does play a massive factor. We tried to give us some cushion. We wanted to get extra runs that could give us an advantage in the second innings. I think in that process we played a lot of attacking shots, attacking options. That didn’t come off today,” Bumrah said after India suffered a second humiliating defeat in as many matches.

AS IT HAPPENED

“So, I think that was the approach as a batting unit that was going on because in the second innings, batting does get easier. So we wanted to give that cushion to the bowlers. I think that was the thought process. I think in that thought process I think there were a lot of attack issues.”

Having lost two in two in the league stage so far, India has one foot in the exit door. With the next game just three nights away, Bumrah conceded that the players needed to be at their professional best for bouncing back against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

“As a sportsman, you face a lot of days in cricket. Some days will be good and some days would be bad. What I try to do is not get very high when good days happen and not get very low when low days happen,” Bumrah said.

READ : How can India qualify for T20 World Cup semifinals?

“All of these things are always are part and parcel of a cricketer's life. Try to stay in the moment, analyse what went wrong, what went well and try to move forward. That’s the only way that you can move forward in this game,” he added.

Birthday boy Sodhi shines

Ish Sodhi, the leg spinner who picked the prized scalps of India’s captain and vice-captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in a memorable spell, admitted he couldn’t have celebrated his 29th birthday on a better note.

“Cool way to spend your birthday. You spend so much time of your season all year away from friends and family. And so I guess to have a day like that and beat a top quality side like India is pretty cool,” he said.