Asia Cup matches offer Bumrah the perfect platform to prove a point to his doubters

Jasprit Bumrah is the top gun in India’s armoury, to be used in high pressure, high stakes matches.

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

Oneis not sure ifthe T20 Asia Cup falls in that category, but skipper Suryakumar Yadavis not complaining. The pace ace’s availability gives his attack a different dimension.

Some players help win matches, while bowlers like Bumrah leave their mark on big series and tournaments. Since his India debut in 2016 in Australia, Bumrah has been a match-winner. In that series of five ODIs and three T20s, the results didn’t go in India’s favour and they had lost the first four ODIs when Bumrah joined.

He was only expected to play in the T20 leg. But after not gettinga flight to Adelaide, venue of the first T201, he joined the ODI side in Sydney. As luck would have it, Bhuv-neshwar Kumar's injury opened upaplaceand Dhoni blooded the rookie pacer in the fifth ODI. With Bumrah playing, India were a transformed outfit, winning all four games (ODI, 3T201s).Itgave an early example of the difference he usually makes.

Bumrah’s impact was evident at the 2024 T20 World Cup, where his 15 wickets in eight games helped take India to the tile.