This is the best bowling attack that India have ever had in a World Cup: Aakash Chopra

India defeated Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 302 runs in Mumbai courtesy of a sensational bowling show by the in-form pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. As the pace factory of India wreaked havoc on the Lankan line-up, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra came up to laud the bowlers.

Hosting JioCinema’s daily sports show ‘#AAKASHVANI,’ Aakash Chopra spoke about the bowling performance put up by the Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami against Sri Lanka on Thursday. “The ball on which (Jasprit) Bumrah got Pathum Nissanka out could well be the ball of the tournament. The ball swung away and rapped his pad. After that, (Mohammed) Siraj was given the ball. The last time around, he had taken six wickets against them and here he took three. He was breathing fire.” 

“After this, it was time for ‘Sensational Shami’ to take over. Well, he’s spectacular, scintillating, and unbelievable. He now has 45 wickets in World Cups in just 14 matches. He took five wickets in this game. Had he been given the new ball, he’d have taken seven. Mohammed Shami was just unbelievable. All the pace bowlers turn their wrists, use scrambled seam, and bowl slower ones, but Shami bowls seam up and gets the ball to move at will. Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. This is the best bowling attack that India have ever had in a World Cup."

On the batting front, Chopra spoke of the importance of Shreyas Iyer’s knock. “In my opinion, the most important knock of the day was played by Shreyas Iyer. The way he batted, he could have stayed cautious. But no, that’s not what he did. He began hitting sixes and proved that if there’s intent then the same bowlers on the same pitch can end up delivering different results. He was absolutely stellar.”