While Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to a back strain, Bhuvneshwar himself faced a tough time during the Asia Cup and the subsequent bilateral series as his performance in the death overs was questionable.
However, the Meerut man has been in excellent form overall and it was his first spell of fast swing bowling that put the pressure on Pakistan, helping young Arshdeep Singh pick up the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam.
So did the bowling unit do anything extra to make up for Bumrah’s absence?
“The kind of bowler Bumrah is, it’s definitely a big loss for the team. It’s not like we have to do anything extra with Bumrah,” Bhuvneshwar told reporters in the mixed field after another tough performance against Netherlands. ”
“Even if Bumrah was around, we couldn’t have done those extra things. We are doing exactly what is our strength.”
Asked whether his criticism of death bowling in the Asia Cup has hurt him from performing well for India for a decade, Bhuvneshwar gave the impression that he was not happy.
“So many saloons once happened thing bad. Toh ho gayi. Baat khatam. (All these years, I’ve done this out of a tournament. It’s happened. It’s done and dusted).
“The media and commentators can say a lot (about death bowling), but as a team we knew we would have our share of ups and downs.
“T20 is a format where it can be difficult for the bowlers and even for the batsmen if the track is difficult. But since the Asia Cup is a big event, people tend to judge you that much.”
Bhuvneshwar said that he stays away from social media during big events.
“During the World Cup, I keep myself completely away from social media and I don’t know what everything is written about. Because it’s social media you know all these things.”
In the first match of the tournament against Pakistan, Bhuvneshwar really troubled Rizwan with his swing and he said that he never expected so much swing in Australia.
The senior bowler said, “I never thought that my balls would swing so much. Whether me or Arshdeep who took two wickets, Arshdeep and I complimented each other. So you can say that I was happy.”
Talking about Arshdeep, there was a glow on his face.
“He has been amazing since his debut. He was always asking what kind of track would be offered and what kind of shots would the batsmen play on this track. He also asks me and Rohit and Virat. In their first T20Is With the World Cup in mind, he is doing really well.”
Bhuvneshwar also confirmed that there is no death bowler.
He said, ‘There is no such death bowler. You can’t do this kind of planning in cricket where you know who your death bowlers are even before the tournament starts.
“A lot of things are spontaneous and the captain takes care of how he assesses the situation at that very moment.”
Preparation was very important in Perth.
The Indian team had a seven-day camp in Perth and hence, playing South Africa on Saturday, could have been beneficial for the team.
“The first phase of preparation when we touched down here in Perth was the most important. The strategy changes with each team as the batsmen change. We discussed and coached the implementation of the plans.
“If you lose the first match in a tournament and that too against a tough team like Pakistan, it would have been difficult to come back.”
The trend in such events is that batsmen go to hell for the leather in the last 10, he said.
Bhuvneshwar said, “You can feel that as a bowling unit we gave 15 to 20 more (34 in the last 3 overs), but it has been a pattern of all the teams in this World Cup.”
“If you watch most of the matches, teams haven’t scored much in the first 10, but once the ball is a touch old, the set batsmen start scoring runs.”
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