Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 6 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan commended Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah's match-winning bowling effort in the India vs England T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal on Thursday at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Pathan said that India is lucky that a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah plays for the country.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan praised Jasprit Bumrah, calling him a once-in-a-generation bowler with exceptional skills and the ability to perform under pressure.

'I have spoken about Bumrah many times before and I will say it again. We are lucky that a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah plays for India. India has never had a bowler like him before. Perhaps the world has rarely seen a bowler like him. He has everything including yorkers, slower balls, outswing, inswing, and bouncers. He also knows very well how to bowl under pressure,' Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

In the semifinal clash, India posted a daunting 253-7 while batting first with help of Sanju Samson's 42-ball 89. However, England, courtesy of Jacob Bethell's century, were in the hunt for India's target for most of the match.

With England appearing to be on course for victory, the match's turning point came when Jasprit Bumrah delivered a brilliant 18th over, conceding just six runs while England needed 45 from the final three overs at the start of it. He bowled four pinpoint yorkers in the over. Following his effort, Hardik Pandya further tightened the pressure with an excellent penultimate over, giving away only nine runs and dismissing Sam Curran. India eventually managed to restrict England to 246/7, winning the match by a slim seven-run margin.

Earlier, Bumrah also bowled a tight 16th over, giving away just eight runs in the over.

Irfan Pathan also noted that Bumrah deserved the Player of the Match for bowling the most difficult overs on a flat pitch, keeping runs in check while other bowlers struggled with high economy rates.

'According to me, Jasprit Bumrah should have been the Player of the Match. If you watched the game, you would have noticed that every other bowler had an economy rate of around 10. Some were even above 10 or close to 15. On such a flat pitch, 500 runs were scored. The one who performs the difficult job in such conditions is the real Player of the Match. The kind of work Jasprit Bumrah does, he bowls the tough overs,' he said.

Speaking of Bumrah's bowling performance, Pathan highlighted Bumrah's cricketing intelligence, praising how he outsmarted Harry Brook with a slower ball instead of pace.

'Once again, when he came to bowl, the first batter he faced was Harry Brook. He did not try to bowl fast because he has a brilliant cricketing mind. He trapped Harry Brook with a slower ball right away. Bumrah could have bowled a yorker or a bouncer on the first delivery and played on his ego thinking, 'I am Jasprit Bumrah.' But he does not do that. He understands the pitch, the conditions, and he reads the batter very well. He knew Harry Brook likes pace. So instead of giving him pace, he trapped him with a slower delivery, which eventually led to Axar Patel taking the catch.'

Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs.

Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket.

While Bethell continued to march on and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, England ended seven runs short of India's target, at 246/7.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/33 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/35 in 3 overs) and Hardik Pandya (2/38 in 4 overs) were the standout performers with the ball.

The final is set to take place in Ahmedabad, where India will look to continue their impressive run and secure another major ICC title by defeating New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8. (ANI)