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3 min readUpdated: Feb 16, 2026 04:12 PM IST
Bumrah said that Rohit didn't talk about cricket when the pair met. (AP Photo)
What advise did 2024 winning captain Rohit Sharma give to Indian bowling ace ahead of the Pakistan game in Colombo at the T20 World Cup? “Not cricket,” Bumrah told ICC presenter Sanjana Ganesan, also his partner in a sparkling interview post India’s resounding 61-run win.
“He (Rohit) actually didn’t talk about cricket. I was asking him if he listened to (the midgame performing) singer Hanumankind’s rap songs,” he told the ICC interview. “I met him after a long time. He dropped in and was wishing all good luck. Good to see him. Now that he’s an ICC ambassador, hopefully he will come for many more games,” he added.
When Ganesan asked him if the team has noticed the likeness between Ishan Kishan and Humankind, given the singer had requested specially to meet with his lookalike Ishan, Bumrah quipped, “We did see it later when they were up close and personal. And jerseys were exchanged. We didn’t notice it earlier. We saw it when they were standing next to each other, there was little bit of similarity. Now Ishan has to do that haircut (a big Afro). It’ll be difficult with that to fit into the helmet. But all jokes aside, it was a good singing performance.”
On Ishan’s batting, Bumrah noted a change in approach, and said, “I’m really happy for him, the way he batted. He was sensible. Back in the day when he used to be aggressive , he would keep going. But today he read the wicket, he knew where he could hit his shots. He assessed the wicket, it was not an easy wicket, there was grip in the wicket. He played a brilliant knock, hope he continues to be like this, it will help us.”
On whether a sense of normalcy was restored as he took the new ball with Hardik Pandya, Bumrah said, “I’m happy to bowl wherever team wants me to. There was swing, so they thought I should start with new ball. There was help in the wicket. So we tried to use it to our advantage. Today execution was good.”
The conditions helped India draw up the plan as Bumrah struck two early blows. “We were looking at what were our options on this wicket. When we saw there was little help with new ball, cause during warm-ups we noticed there’s help. In little bit of monsoon weather there’s help. We wanted to stick to our strengths. Not overcomplicate it but to keep an eye on what wicket was doing. And it worked.”
After Ganesan wound up the interview with, “Congratulations on tonight’s win. We will see you in Ahmedabad,” Bumrah would geekily guffaws, “You are flying with me so I know that. Cheers.”
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