India star Jasprit Bumrah is so far ahead of rivals he is like T20 cricket’s Lionel Messi

South Africa’s chances in World Cup final in Barbados will live or die by how they handle India’s extraordinary pace spearhead

India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Phil Salt during the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final match at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana. PA

Bumrah celebrates after the wicket of Salt. PA

England's Jos Buttler in action. PA

Moeen Ali of England is stumped by Rishabh Pant. AFP

Harry Brook of England is bowled by Kuldeep Yadav. Getty Images

Suryakumar Yadav of India bats against England. Getty Images

India's captain Rohit Sharma is bowled out by Adil Rashid. AP

England captain Jos Buttler, right, appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of India's Suryakumar Yadav. AFP

Arshdeep Singh has taken more wickets than Jasprit Bumrah for India at the T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean. Kuldeep Yadav has a better strike rate than him.

In the semi-final against England in Guyana on Thursday, Bumrah only bowled 16 balls. Axar Patel and Kuldeep each claimed more scalps than he did in a win which was largely indebted to India’s excellent batting anyway.

And yet Bumrah remains, by a margin, the seminal figure in the best side in T20 international cricket.

So far ahead of the rest is he, it is like watching a T20 version of Lionel Messi. Yes, others are able to flourish, as the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta did in Messi’s peak Barcelona years. But when it matters, Bumrah matters. The game is decided when he has the ball.

The boy next door with the homespun bowling technique is not entirely unplayable, in the sense he beats either edge at will. But he is such a persistent threat that opposition batters have to be so risk averse it is like they are playing 16-over games rather than 20.

Take the classic encounter between India and Pakistan in New York in the group stage. Pakistan were well placed in chasing 120 to win. Against a side with merely a very good leading bowler, they would have likely got over the line and won that game.

But Bumrah did not let it happen. He allowed basically nil margin for error from Pakistan’s batters. He only missed his mark with two of the 24 deliveries he bowled in that game. Such was the pressure he had created, he took the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed off one of those anyway, when the surprised batter shovelled a leg-stump full toss to a fielder.

Against England in the semi-final, his role was vital, too. Even if, with the benefit of hindsight, India’s total of 171 for seven was an excellent one on a testing track, and the spinners were going to present a substantial threat anyway.

Unlike against Pakistan, Bumrah was given the new ball, perhaps once they had seen that Arshdeep was getting it to swing in the first over.

His first two balls were on the pads and worked away by Phil Salt and then Jos Buttler for easy runs. Yet on the third, Bumrah was straight into his work, inducing an uppish drive from Buttler with an imperceptible slower ball.

It was a clue as to what was to come. In his second over, Bumrah realistically ended England’s challenge with the ball that dismissed Salt.

Salt is the third highest ranked T20I batter in the world. Apart from that, he was among the most prolific batters at the Indian Premier League, where he played a key role in taking Kolkata Knight Riders to the final.

Clearly, he is a player of substance. Salt had just lost his opening partner, Buttler, to Axar, so any risks he was planning would have to be calculated ones. And yet he was totally bewitched by Bumrah.

Having bowled two slower balls to Moeen Ali, the first of which was missed by a margin, he hurried Salt with a full pace delivery at 137kmh with the first he bowled to him in the over.

On commentary, Ian Ward and Nasser Hussain wondered aloud what was coming next. The answer was a 129kmh off-break which gripped the pitch enough to turn inside Salt’s bat and crash into his leg-stump.

“A masterclass in changing your pace,” Hussain said. “A masterclass in bowling.”

“I can tell you this: when you are playing the world’s best fast bowler, you have to rethink your strategy,” said Dinesh Karthik, after pointing out the fine form Salt had been in over recent months.

Does Bumrah need a World Cup win on his CV, as Messi also apparently did, to cement his greatness? Like the Argentine and the Champions League, he has been a multiple winner of all the top honours cricket’s version of the club game has to offer.

The Mumbai Indians became the most successful side in 20-over cricket on his watch.

For three seasons, the wicketkeeper fielding his box of tricks has been Quinton de Kock, who he will be in direct conflict with in Saturday’s final in Barbados.

At least De Kock will have a couple of things in his favour. First, the fact he has had such a good view of Bumrah for those seasons behind the stumps with Mumbai.

Secondly, South Africa have had testing batting conditions more or less wherever they have been during their unbeaten run to the final in this tournament.

It means their players will have been trained to be far more watchful than they otherwise might have been on pitches where it was easier to hit through the line of the ball.

Other than that, though, the reasons for optimism are sparse. Their chances of a first world title at senior level are likely to depend much on how they combat Bumrah.