Having plucked Mushfiqur Rahim’s short arm jab out of thin air at backward point, Ravindra Jadeja turned around to seek fielding coach T. Dilip’s attention on the
sidelines.

Hands raised, he emulated a medal around his neck with unabashed glee. Superlative efforts in batting and bowling earn rewards but fielding remains an oft-ignored aspect. With this in mind, the Indian team management has started awarding a medal to the best fielder after every match in the dressing room.

Dilip has been given the job to make the choice. Virat Kohli, Shardul Thakur and KL Rahul have been rewarded in the first three matches. Given Jadeja’s agility on the field, it was strange to see him miss out and the all-rounder demanded Dilip’s attention at the first opportunity.

Being sharp and alert on the field made Jadeja’s effort possible but the class of Jasprit Bumrah can in no way be diminished. Mushfiqur had been threatening to take it away beyond India’s reach with a calculated effort but couldn’t beat Bumrah’s strike rate in the death overs.

There are fast bowlers and then there is Bumrah. On a day when the think-tank decided to keep Mohammed Shami on the bench again and Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur went for 60 and 59 runs, respectively, Bumrah manifested his class and temperament once more.

It was only because of Shoriful Islam’s outrageous six over cover off the last ball that his figures suffered a slight dent. Still, 2/41 had the mark of someone at the peak of his powers.

But Bumrah’s deceptive slower ones have surprised the best in the business since there’s no change in arm speed. A flick of the wrists makes it possible with no change in run-up. An off-cutter delivered with the same action knocked out Mohammad Rizwan in Ahmedabad.

Here it was Mushfiqur. The ball was dug outside off allowing width to the batter and Mushfiqur fell for the bait. That Jadeja’s superhuman effort made the catch possible is another story.

More was to follow. An angled yorker, delivered at 145 kmph, burst past Mahmudullah’s toes to knock the base of the stumps in the final over.

Rohit follows a set pattern when it comes to distributing Bumrah’s overs. An opening burst of four overs is followed by two in the middle overs before unleashing him again in the closing stages.

He gave away 13 in his first spell, including a maiden, to set the tone. With 10 wickets at an economy of 3.62 in four games, Bumrah is already the second-most successful in this World Cup.

India need Bumrah with his pinpoint accuracy to keep firing.