India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah silenced naysayers questioning his future a year ago while recovering from a back ailment. Bumrah had back surgery and missed a lot of cricket, including the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 World Test Championship Final. The right-arm pacer returned to professional cricket with the Ireland tour last year and performed admirably in the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup 2024.

Bumrah, who has been unstoppable, maintained his red-hot form and delivered a stunning performance against Pakistan in a T20 World Cup encounter on Sunday. He took three wickets for just 14 runs in four overs, sweeping away his competitors in a low-scoring thriller. In a recent interview, Bumrah hit back at those who doubted his resilience and determination.

See a year ago, the same people were saying that I might not play again and my career is over and then now the question changed, Bumrah said. I am not considering whether I am bowling to the best of my ability. I try to solve the problem that is there in front of me. I know it’s a cliched answer, but I was trying to focus on what is the best option over here on a wicket like this, he expressed.

Bumrah shared his mindset about handling the outside noise in crunch situations. If I look at the outside noise, if I look at people and pressure and emotion take over, then things don’t really work for me. The IPL that we played was not very bowler-friendly but we are very happy that we didn’t come here with that baggage, the 30-year-old concluded.