By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan came with 15 overs to spare but pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah denied it was a planned ploy to boost their net run-rate in the World Cup group stage.
India captain Rohit Sharma smashed 131 off 84 balls as the tournament hosts chased down a 273-run victory target in 35 overs on a good batting track at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
The hosts are only the third team to win their first two games and they are sandwiched between New Zealand and Pakistan at the top of the standings.
Net run-rate could come into play later in the tournament, but Bumrah denied it was a factor in India’s performance against Afghanistan.
“Not at all. We are not looking at it from the beginning (of the tournament. (Besides) we did not know that Rohit will give us such a headstart,” Bumrah told reporters.
“I don’t think we had any such conversation so early in the tournament. Really happy the way the game went and we finished it off.”
Bumrah claimed figures of 4-39 to help restrict Afghanistan to 272-8.
Asked to rate his performance, the 29-year-old said he had learnt not to measure success with the number of wickets he claimed.
“Look, I’m not result-oriented. Just because I’ve taken four wickets that doesn’t mean I’m very, very happy or I’ve done something extraordinary,” he said.
“I just go with my preparation. I go with the processes that I feel is right. I try to read the wicked and try to find the best answers.”
India play Pakistan in the tournament’s most-anticipated match in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Ed Osmond)
