Afghanistan’s stunning win over Australia means that for the Aussies the game against India becomes a must win game.
Afghanistan play Bangladesh in the evening after the India and Australia match and will know the result. And if Australia have lost, then all they have to do is beat Bangladesh to qualify for the semis. If India have been beaten, then Rashid will know what margin his team needs to beat Bangladesh to get into the semis. Afghanistan will be ruing the scale of their loss to India, for that doesn’t help their net run-rate. The way some of their batters threw their wickets away was indicative of a lack of thinking and appreciation of what was needed to stay in the hunt for a place in the semis. They now have a splendid opportunity to do so. The pitch at St. Vincent is certainly helping the spinners and Bangladesh has got a clutch of them too so it won’t be easy against them.
Australia know that India will not make it easy. Having beaten Afghanistan quite easily, the Indians would definitely want the Afghans to be in the knockout stages. They showed that they were not going to let up and beat Bangladesh comfortably too. Bangladesh may have erred in opting to field first for after India set them a near 200 target they needed to get a good start. How could they get that against an attack led by Jasprit Bumrah? This man is a phenomenon, pure and simple. He has a run-up and action that is impossible to copy. Added to that is the priceless ability to suss a batter and almost read his mind and bowl accordingly making the batter look utterly silly.
His humility is seen by how he tries to learn by watching how other teams new ball bowlers operate and to see if he can bring any of that and add to his repertoire. Always the student and not the master and so keeping his eyes and ears open to learn as much as possible and get better at his craft. And craft it definitely is for to be able to land the ball unnervingly where he wants to is a skill that is rare and given to few.
India is lucky to have Bumrah in its ranks. He must be celebrated with equal if not more fervour than our brilliant batters. See how he and his bowling partners saved the batters blushes against Pakistan defending a paltry total.
Yes sir, Australia know that if they want to beat India and qualify for the semifinal they have to stop Bumrah more than any other Indian player.
(Professional Management Group)
