Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah took a total of 7 wickets in the match to crush England. Mohammad Siraj supported them even though he did not get a wicket. Wasim Akram was impressed with their combined excellent performance. In the eyes of Pakistan’s legendary cricketer, India’s pace attack is now the best in the world.
India defeated the English by a big margin of 100 runs in Lucknow on Sunday. The hosts have almost confirmed the semi-finals of the World Cup with their sixth consecutive victory. Their pacers set fire to bowling-friendly wickets. Bumrah got 3 wickets for 32 runs. Shami took 4 wickets for a total of 22 runs. However, Siraj, who played the role of an associate of the two, could not stay tight. 33 runs came from his 6 overs.
After the victory against England, he said about the arch-rivals Indian pacers, ‘Indian pacers are looking amazing. They look the best in the world. Bumrah is the leader of this force, Siraj comes to accompany him and Shami hammers the final nail against England.’
Bumrah has taken 14 wickets at an average of 15.07 and an economy of 3.91 in 6 matches so far this season. He is the highest wicket taker among pacers. Shami has taken 9 wickets in just 2 matches. His average is only 8.44! Siraj has 6 wickets in 6 matches next to his name. Pace bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was out due to injury, took 5 wickets in the first 3 matches. Another all-rounder Shardul Thakur has 2 wickets in 3 matches.
Batting first on a very difficult wicket for batting, India scored 229 runs. Former left-arm pacer Akram credited captain Rohit Sharma for making a big contribution behind this capital, ‘We all felt that India scored less runs and England had a better chance. But the wicket was different from what we usually see in this World Cup. It was difficult to bat on that pitch. Especially, when India were batting.’
‘Rohit said after the match, in the light of his own experience, he understood that one has to last for a long time. He led from the front and scored 87 runs off 101 balls. It was a very important innings considering the circumstances.’
Suryakumar Yadav, who suffocated India’s runs, also got praise from ‘Sultan of Swing’ Akram, ‘There was only one batsman (in the Indian squad) who was not getting runs, Suryakumar. He scored 49 runs (47 balls). He played very well, very smartly.’
