Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh praised the performances of pacer Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant during the group stage of ICC T20 World Cup, placing them as the players to watch out for the Men in Blue who will start their Super Eights stage against Afghanistan from June 20.
India will be taking on Afghanistan in their first Super Eight clash on June 20 at Bridgetown. India ended unbeaten run in the group stage with wins over Ireland, Pakistan and the USA in low-scoring games, with their last game against Canada on June 15 having been washed out due to rain. Afghanistan are also undefeated yet, with big wins against Uganda, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. They will be taking on West Indies in their final group-stage game on Tuesday.
Speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan said that the biggest positives during the India-Pakistan game in particular were Bumrah, Hardik and Pant putting their hands up with match-winning performances.
“The biggest positive is that when you are in trouble, how do you get out of it? One or the other player raised his hand and did his job that day. Jasprit Bumrah’s spell, Rizwan hit a bad shot and got out, after that the energy team showed up was commendable. All those who were asleep they woke up and pulled the match from that situation while defending a small score. It was not a common thing to win the match against Pakistan from their claws. The biggest positive is that Hardik Pandya took the wicket. He was the fourth bowler in this tournament. But if you look at his wicket tally, he has done much better than what was expected of him.”
He also said that Pant, who has scored 96 runs in three matches so far at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 125 on tough Nassau County pitches in New York, gave India a left-right combination batting at number three.
“Rishabh Pant played at number 3. His role was completely changed. Before this World Cup, we were saying that Sanju Samson will play in the team because he has made big runs. To make Rishabh Pant play at number 3 is a big positive. The left-right combination is formed when Rishabh Pant plays at number 3. There are a lot of positives,” said Harbhajan.
The former spinner said that the team faced a lot of challenges, but it is full of brave players and it was this bravery that helped them top the table.
“Of course, there are challenges and difficulties. But the challenges come in front of those who are brave. This team is a team of brave players. They fought well and played very well. Because of this, they topped the group,” he concluded.
India will be aiming to do well against Afghanistan (June 20), Bangladesh (June 22) and Australia (24) and register big wins in order to qualify for the semifinals and end India’s drought for an ICC trophy since 2013’s Champions Trophy and also win their first T20 WC since 2007’s inaugural edition in South Africa.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.-ANI