As India prepares for a second World Cup final in seven months, the side’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah reflected on the short turnaround time for the team, saying that could be a blessing in disguise as they would not overthink their plans.
The Indian team took the flight to Barbados straight after hammering England convincingly by 68 runs in the second semifinal held in Guyana on Thursday, and landed in Bridgetown mere 24 hours before the big final. As a result, India had to cancel their optional training session on Friday and would directly hit the ground on Saturday to take on South Africa in the title clash.
However, Bumrah felt that the short turnaround time could in fact be beneficial from the India’s point of view as it could help in avoiding confusion, and the team could straightway execute their plans in the match.
“It is a good thing sometimes when you don’t have a lot of time to overplan or confuse yourself or complicate things. So you know, you are straight on the flight, rest and recover and no time to think and no complications,” Bumrah said ahead of the final.
Bumrah was effusive in his praise for his teammates, including skipper Rohit Sharma for being phenomenal with the bat, and lauded the batter for letting his players express themselves.
Rohit has had a huge impact with the bat in this tournament, and backed it up with a half-century in the semi-final. In seven games, Rohit has smacked 248 runs at an average of 41.33 and 155.97 strike rate, packed with three half-centuries. Against Australia in the Super 8 stage, he got his tournament’s highest score of 92.
“Rohit Sharma has been absolutely phenomenal. Even in the previous World Cup you know, he has been proactive, he gives a lot of freedom to his players, he lets the players express themselves. When he feels the right time, he shares his own experience during the match. So ya, it feels really great and I feel very happy playing under him and the confidence of the group is also very high,” Bumrah said.
Nasser Hussain, a former captain of England, also expressed his fondness for Rohit for his batting prowess and leadership abilities.
“I have been a fan of Rohit for a very long time, as a batter, as a captain, and as a person. He seems to have a very calming influence. Whereas you had other captains, maybe like Virat (Kohli), who wore their heart on their sleeves, and they are incredibly passionate. Rohit is like that iron fist in a velvet glove. You do not mess around with Rohit, but he is also a big brother that will put his arm around you and look after you,” Nasser said.
While the T20 World Cup final is expected to be an epic thriller and a sold-out venue, but rain could once again be an issue, as it has been throughout the tournament. According to weather.com, the rain prediction for the day is at 70 percent and at around 10:30 am local time (8:00 pm IST), the scheduled start time of the game, there are 66 percent rain chances. Furthermore, the forecast remains gloomy late in the evening as well with 50 percent precipitation chances at 4:00 pm local time (1:30 am IST).
The ICC has already allocated a reserve day for the crucial match on June 30.