When Jasprit Burmah flummoxed Dasun Shanaka with a well-disguised slower one in the 17th over of the 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka, he did not celebrate much, just outstretched arms and a smile. For he knew he was far from his best. Returning to the Indian side after a 4-month injury break, Bumrah looked a tad rusty. He did show signs of his brilliance both with the new and old ball but he erred on line and length more than he normally would do. After getting some match practice in Indore, Bumrah would look to get back to his best in the 3rd India vs Sri Lanka T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in Pune on Friday.
Bumrah is also on verge of registering a big milestone in his career. Bumrah is just 1 wicket away from becoming India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Currently, he his tied with R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal with 52 wickets to his name.
It is unlikely that Chahal would play in the 3rd T20I against Sri Lanka as India have decided to in with Kuldeep Yadav because of the amount of left-handers in the Sri Lanka camp, therefore, the chances of Bumrah going past both Chahal and Ashwin are very high.
Bumrah has taken 44 matches to claim 52 wickets while Chahal has taken only 36 matches. Ashwin on the other hand, has 52 wickets in 46 matches.
Though Bumrah was not at his best in Indore – 1 for 32 – the Indian bowlers did a fine job to restrict Sri Lanka to only 142 for 9 in a placid batting track. Young pacers Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur took the centrestage. Saini picked up 2 wickets and gave away only 18 runs in his 4 over while Thakur picked up three wickets in his final over to finish with figures of 3 for 23.
In reply, India chased down the target with 7 wickets and 15 balls to spare. KL Rahul top-scored with 45.