After pulling off one of the most thrilling wins against Pakistan in recent times, India captain Rohit Sharma was in a cagey mood when asked about Jasprit Bumrah's role in the win.
The marquee group stage clash of the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup took place on Sunday when India took on a beleaguered Pakistan in New York.
Having won the toss, it seemed Pakistan were all over India when they restricted Rohit and Co. to just 119 on a tricky wicket. Even though the pitch seemed tough, 120 was chaseable and Pakistan looked set for a win at one point.
But they choked at the end on the face of disciplined bowling effort by India and ended up losing by 6 runs. One of the heroes for India was Bumrah with the ball but Rohit was in no mood to shower praise on him after the game.
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How did Bumrah bowl against Pakistan?
Bumrah picked three crucial wickets in the game and brought India back into the match on multiple occasions.
First, he dismissed Babar Azam to break Pakistan's opening partnership in the 5th over before removing a set Mohammed Rizwan in the 15th over.
He then took out Iftikhar Ahmed in the 19th over and his figures read 4-0-14-3.
What did Rohit say about Bumrah?
After the match, when asked about Bumrah's match-winning effort and ability, Rohit opted to defect the question by saying he did not want Bumrah to get distracted by all the praise. But he did admit the 30-year-old was a genius.
"At the halfway stage we got together and said if things can happen to us (while batting), they can happen to them too. The little contributions from everyone makes the difference," he said.
"Whoever has the ball wants to make the difference. Bumrah is going from strength to strength. I'm not going to talk too much about him, we want him to be in that kind of mindset till the end of this World Cup, he's a genius with the ball."
The India captain seems to be focused on winning the tournament outright and does not want his best fast bowler distracted after a group stage win which does not have much impact on the tournament right now.
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