Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah once again did the job for India, as his steaming yorker kept UAE opener Alishan Sharafu guessing, and the ball went on to knock over his stumps.
India has gone in with just one frontline pacer in the form of Bumrah; that’s the level of dependability and formidability the ace pacer brings to the table. However, the mindset to bench Arshdeep Singh has given rise to another controversy.
Gautam Gambhir again had many surprises up his sleeve, as to accommodate Sanju Samson as well as Tilak Varma in the Indian batting order, he decided to compromise a bowling option. However, it was surprising that he opted for batting depth with Axar and left out India’s most successful T20I bowler.
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Watch: Sharafu tricked by Jasprit Bumrah in Asia Cup opener
Suryakumar Yadav handed the new ball to Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Though Pandya, alongside the two spinners Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy, bowled in just 1 over each, Bumrah completed a spell of 3 overs in the powerplay as India looked to build early pressure on the UAE.
He steamed in with his second over, as Bumrah bowled a perfect yorker that dipped in towards the off-stump and cleaned up the United Arab Emirates opener Alishan Sharafu. This marked Bumrah’s first white-ball wicket in over a year.
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Shivam Dube takes up the ball as the Third Indian pacer
After the early carnage caused by Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay, the Indian spinners came in to have a roll of their arms. India has included three spinners in all-rounder Axar Patel and spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.
Shivam Dube made it to the Indian XI instead of Rinku Singh, as he has the ability to bowl some overs around with the ball.
