Agencies
India quick Jasprit Bumrah has turned to a new ‘temple point’ celebration while also taking the equal most wickets so far at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Jasprit Bumrah has bounced back from a long injury layoff to make an immediate impact on this year’s Cricket World Cup with eight wickets in India’s opening three
matches.
The right-arm quick currently has the equal most wickets at the tournament along with New Zealand pair Mitch Santner and Matt Henry.
The rush of scalps has given Bumrah multiple opportunities to call on a new ‘temple point’ celebration that has been likened to one used by England and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.
The India star has previously revealed his interest in the English Premier League club.
“I had no intentions of making it viral or spreading it everywhere,” Bumrah told ICC Digital Insider Tanvi Shah about the celebration after India beat Pakistan by seven wickets.
“It just came to my mind. I’d seen Rashford do it as well.
“I thought it was cool. There’s no particular big back story behind it. At the end I decided to do it.
“Usually I’m too tired to celebrate. But that is one occasion where I did celebrate.”
Bumrah started the tournament with six wickets against Australia and Afghanistan, and turned to the now iconic celebration after dismissing opener Ibrahim Zadran in the second of those matches.
The 29-year-old was again crucial to India’s attack when they faced Pakistan, first taking the new ball and tying down openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique.
Bumrah returned when their arch-rivals were on the ropes and picked up the key wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan with a pair of sizzling deliveries to finish with 2/19 and the player of the match award.
India have now won their opening three matches of the Cricket World Cup in convincing fashion as they look to claim the trophy for the first time since 2011.
“We’re not thinking about the momentum. The team is right now thinking about recovery,” Bumrah said.
“We’ve played three games back-to-back and the result has been on the good side because our preparation has been good. The team vibe is also good.”
India will head to Pune next where they will face Bangladesh on October 19.
