New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips reminded India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is “human” after all – and hopes the talisman has an off day in Sunday’s Twenty20 World Cup final.
Arguably the best all-format bowler of his era, Bumrah’s mastery was on display again in India’s narrow victory in Thursday’s thrilling semi-final against England in Mumbai.
Bumrah returned figures of 33-1 in his tidy four overs in a match where 449 runs were amassed and 34 sixes rained on the Wankhede Stadium.
India opener and player-of-the-match Sanju Samson called Bumrah a “once-in-a-generation” bowler and more deserving of the award given to him.
“Obviously, Bumrah is a fantastic bowler,” Phillips said of the Indian seamer on Friday.
“He’s got so many variations. He hits the block-hole at the death incredibly well.
“But he’s human as well. He is allowed to have a bad day, as are the rest of us. So hopefully we have a good day against him.”
Asked if New Zealand would see through Bumrah’s overs and target other Indian bowlers, Phillips said the key was to remain flexible.
“As I said, a bowler is allowed to miss, and if he happens to miss, we do have to put it away,” Phillips added.
“That also means that if he does bowl well, we do have to, I guess, accommodate for other things and adapt.”
Around 100,000 predominantly India fans are expected to fill the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday cheering the home side.
Pitch and the dew factor have kept both teams guessing but New Zealand, chasing their maiden limited-overs World Cup title, would look to adapt quickly, the swashbuckling batter said.
“Pitches at different stadiums play differently each time. So whatever we see tomorrow, we’ll be trying to adapt to,” Phillips said.
“If that means lots of runs, then that means lots of runs, but if it means that it’s going to be a little bit of a scrap, we’re up for that as well.”
