‘Bumrah bhaiya mast maja karega re baba’ – Fans react as Jasprit Bumrah becomes first Indian to win Player of Match award on T20I debut as captain
Jasprit Bumrah (Source: Twitter)
Jasprit Bumrah on his return to international cricket after more than 11 months, gave a sensational performance with the ball against Ireland. The right-arm quick bowler was the captain of India for the match and the remainder of the series. Bumrah became only the 11th captain to lead India in T20 internationals but became the first of them to win Player of the Match on debut as the leader.
Before Bumrah, India was led by 10 different captains in 17 years in a shorter format. The Indians who led India before Bumrah in T20Is are Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul. Among them, the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma were the regular captains.
Hardik Pandya has been a regular since November 2022. But the star All-rounder was given rest for the Ireland series ahead of the big tournaments. Hence, Bumrah opted to become the captain of the team against Ireland, on his comeback game. The Indian board did not reject the proposal of its star pacer. As a result, the world got to see the captaincy of Bumrah yet again, in a different format.
Great performance as a bowler and a captain
As a captain, Bumrah seemed very confident. The 29-year-old was spot on with the bowling changes. The fast bowler bowled himself in the first and third over of the match as the leader of the attack. At the other end, Arshdeep was asked to bowl. Prasidh was given the role of a first-change bowler. Ravi Bishnoi and Prasidh did well in the middle overs. Washington Sundar assisted Ravi Bishnoi well.
Even Shivam Dube was given an over to bowl. Later with the old ball, Bumrah shined in the death overs. In the 19th over of the game, Bumrah brought himself to the attack and conceded just a solitary run including 5 dot balls in the over, which just showed the mastery of the quick bowler. The captain truly deserved his Player of the Match award.
Here’s how the fans reacted to the news:
https://twitter.com/Babubhaiya010/status/1692596704326082951?s=20
— CricJigyasa (@CricJigyasa) August 18, 2023
Why didn't Ravi bishnoi not get the man of the match, he had a better economy rate
— KM (@KavanMehta18) August 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/junaid_iqbal35/status/1692595955122442396?s=20
Sometimes captaincy is about just doing the basic things correct other than being 'unique'
— eigengrau (@SickPsycheSong) August 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/nikhil_nsu/status/1692595372647145684?s=20
https://twitter.com/alexcrypto22/status/1692605947430986037?s=20
https://twitter.com/BloodyRahuL/status/1692735496047432175?s=20
Waiting for chapri pandya to win something
— Sia⋆ (@siappaa_) August 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/bholination/status/1692596322304680173?s=20
https://twitter.com/inevitable__31/status/1692597025085493406?s=20
