India thrive in home comfort: Bumrah hits stride on comeback as Iyer’s men crush Afghanistan in first T20I

NEW DELHI: Jasprit Bumrah’s first delivery of the night drifted past Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s pads and beat wicketkeeper Sanju Samson to the boundary for five wides. That was the only time one could say he was coming off an injury layoff. Two deliveries later, he got the ball to kick from a good length for Gurbaz to awkwardly fend it to first slip. From there, usual business resumed for India’s T20I team on home soil after a winless tour of Ireland and England two months ago.The Indian bowling attack, led by Bumrah, stifled Afghanistan to 156/8.Opener Abhishek Sharma effortlessly blazed away to 82 off 32 and Ishan Kishan eased to 42 off 33 as India cantered to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with seven wickets and 38 balls to spare with captain Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma completing the formalities at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday evening.On paper, Afghanistan are the hosts of this T20I series. But the Indian T20I team re-established this as their hunting ground. As is often the case with Bumrah, that one menacing delivery to Gurbaz shook the confidence of the Afghanistan batting. And as usual, Bumrah set the tone for the rest of the attack to settle down on a length against an unsure batting lineup.Call it the impact of Bumrah’s spell of 1/26 or playing in Indian conditions, India’s new T20I captain Iyer finally got to see how ominous this team can be after taking over the reins from Suryakumar Yadav post the T20 World Cup triumph at home.Azmatullah Omarzai’s enterprising unbeaten 64 off 44 balls dragged Afghanistan out of the ditch at 43/5 to post 156/8. Bumrah’s arrival just goes to show the difference he makes to an attack.Going by their records, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy were expected to have the upper hand against a comparatively inexperienced Afghan batting lineup. That said, this same attack without Bumrah came second in all six T20Is on the tour of Ireland and England. The incisive opening burst allowed Arshdeep, Axar and Varun to apply the choke as they returned figures of 3/19, 1/27 and 1/16.Bumrah has predominantly played T20 cricket over last year. Most of it has been on scary flat decks. Sunday’s pitch at the Ferozeshah Kotla was a tired one after enduring the load of the IPL and Delhi Premier League T20.Help of any kind from the surface is enough for Bumrah to get into the minds of the batters. From letting it rip with the new ball to using the dual nature of the pitch with his cutters, he flaunted his wares in his first T20 game after the IPL. If one crack in India’s T20 cricket stood exposed on Sunday night, it was the lack of decent bowling allrounder. Even as Omarzai went about rebuilding the innings with veteran Mohammed Nabi, the run rate dipped below six runs per over by the 10th over with India’s frontline bowlers operating with immaculate accuracy. The shackles were broken only when seamers Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube were taken for 0/30 in two overs and 21 off one over respectively.Brief scores: Afghanistan 156-8 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 64 not out, Mohammad Nabi 33; Arshdeep Singh 3-19, Varun Chakravarthy 1-16) lost to India 157-3 in 13.4 overs (Abhishek Sharma 82, Ishan Kishan 42; Mohammad Nabi 2-28) by seven wickets.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.