T20 World Cup 2026: ‘Take his two overs away, and England would have won the game by an over’

Former South African cricketer Dale Steyn heaped massive praise on Jasprit Bumrah after their T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal against England. India registered a thrilling seven-run victory to qualify for the final. India scored 253/7, but it was not an easy win for them as England threatened to pull off the chase and were restricted to 246/7.

Bumrah bowled two terrific overs at the death, giving away just 14 runs. Steyn lavished immense praise on Bumrah, was amazed by the execution under pressure, and lauded him for delivering time and again, adding that if not for Bumrah’s two overs, England would have chased the score.

“I don’t know how Bumrah does it, honestly. This guy is incredible. That amount of pressure, and he does it all the time, not like once every now and then. He does this all the time. I can’t believe it. I don’t know what the batter’s approach needs to be while playing him. I don’t know many people who try to take him on, and even if they do, they end up getting out. He is so special, it is hard to put into words how difficult it is to achieve what he did. Take his two overs away, and England would have won the game by an over,” Steyn said in a conversation on AB de Villiers’ YouTube channel.

AB de Villiers also praised Bumrah, highlighting that the pacer played the situation and backed himself to execute his skills accordingly. He also lauded Hardik Pandya for his brilliant bowling in the 19th over and credited Suryakumar Yadav for going towards Bumrah earlier and leaving the final over to Shivam Dube.

“His biggest strength is that he plays what’s in front of him. Everyone has game plans and blueprints. I promise you, this guy plays what he sees, and he backs it. It is all about Bumrah believing in himself and his ability to execute when he needs to and when it matters the most,” said De Villiers.

“If it wasn’t for over 16, 18 Bumrah and then Pandya, England would have won this game. Kudos to SKY. He took a huge risk leaving the final over to the guy who is not in form or least probable to win them the game. It wasn’t easy as Bumrah also had to come out and perform,” he added.

Former South African captain also credited Pandya for his execution, leaving 30 runs for Dube to defend in the final over. In the three overs from Bumrah and Hardik, just 23 runs were conceded at the back end, and Hardik’s 19th over tilted the game completely in India’s favour.

“I have to give credit to Hardik. It was the flattest wicket. Coming up once again when it mattered most and bowling an incredible over, making it easy for Shivam Dube in that final over,” said De Villiers.

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