Jasprit Bumrah: The boom that won India the World Cup

Dress it up any way you want. Put lipstick on the most beautiful pigs that you want. But it's indisputable that India won this ICC T20 World Cup only because of Jasprit Bumrah.

In the course of the tournament, he bowled 178 balls, or 29.4 overs, conceding only 124 runs. In the course of maintaining an economy rate of 4.17, he took 15 wickets, two fewer than teammate Arshdeep Singh and Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi. But neither came close to having that devastating impact.

T20 cricket is a game of resources. There are 120 (legal) deliveries any batting team has at their disposal to do their worst. On true and flat pitches, which is what you get in most T20 franchise leagues, including IPL, batsmen can hit through the line or on the up at will, with little risk. And the thirst for this means boundaries are inevitably pulled in as close as 60 yards.

But in this World Cup, conditions were different. In New York, the drop-in pitches had clearly not had enough time to settle and were seaming too much. In the Caribbean, there was too much variety - bounce up and down at times, there was grip for the spinners and, occasionally, a lack of any real carry.

Through it all, one man stood tall and broad-shouldered. In New York, Bumrah was a real menace. 2 for 6 against Ireland in 3 overs, 3 for 14 against Pakistan in four overs and, oddly, none for 25 against US. Overall, his figures in New York were 11-1-45-5. These are unplayable numbers.

In Barbados versus Afghanistan, 4-1-7-3; Antigua against Bangladesh, 4-0-13-2; St Lucia versus Australia 4-0-29-1; against England, he could only bowl 2.4 overs. But he took 2 for 12, and, in the final, he went for 18 from his full complement.

Every time the ball was handed to Bumrah, he either picked up a key wicket or tightened the screws. Can you ask any more of a bowler?

Playing against most teams, you could go bang-bang for 20 overs, and trust that the format allowed you to have enough batting resources. Against India, you couldn't. Because going after Bumrah, in any conditions, would mean an imminent loss of a wicket.

To put it simply, you always have 20 overs to play with. But when you're against India, four of those come from Bumrah. If you defend, you're safe. If you attack, you lose key wickets.

Either way, in T20 cricket, you have been burgled.

Rohit Sharma may have made the prettiest runs at a fast clip. Kuldeep Yadav may have bamboozled with his loop and dip. Suryakumar Yadav pulled his weight in the middle-order with his disruptive batting - and that catch in the final. Arshdeep is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

But all this was only possible because Bumrah did his thing. At    no stage did he look for a green seamer, or a hard one where he could bang it in. He just showed up for work every day and got the job done.

India's World Cup win is a thing of beauty. Rohit deserves all the credit for making it happen as it is eventually his hand on the rudder. Rahul Dravid, the outgoing coach, with his support staff, are also worthy, because they would have been the first to get the chop if this campaign went sideways. And, then, there are the selectors, who gave the captain and coach a squad to work with.

In reverse order, they would have been pilloried if one or two games had gone the other way. But, now, it's time to take a step back and give thanks. To all the players who made a difference, bowling one clever over, or clouting two boundaries, and to those who sat patiently in the reserves, preparing every day like they may be called up tomorrow.

No campaign in a team game is built on the sweat of one person's brow. But, sometimes, it is predicated by genius. Rohit's victory is realising that Bumrah is a silent, but significant, partner and deploying him in that capacity.

The writer is former joint editor- in-chief, Wisden India