Team India has performed brilliantly in the T20 World Cup 2024 and has made it to the second round without any major trouble. The big reason for this strong performance of Team India is the team's lethal bowling, which has troubled every team. The star of this bowling has proved to be Jasprit Bumrah, whose balls have no answer to the batsmen of any team. Bumrah is excellent, he has also got good support from star all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The surprising thing is that apart from wickets, Pandya is currently at the forefront in terms of 'dot balls'.

This may seem shocking to read but this is the truth after the group stage. Before the tournament started, Hardik Pandya's form in IPL 2024 was under question. He was failing in batting and was also getting beaten badly in bowling. In such a situation, the biggest concern was whether he would prove to be the same in the World Cup or would be able to make some improvements. Team India's 3 matches are witness to the fact that Hardik proved everyone wrong on this front.

Leading in wickets and dot balls

Hardik brought success to Team India in every match of the group stage. In the first match, he took 3 wickets for 27 runs. Then he took 2 wickets for 24 runs against Pakistan and 2 wickets for 14 runs against America. In this way, he has taken 7 wickets in 3 matches, which is currently the highest for Team India in the tournament. Jasprit Bumrah has taken 5 wickets in 3 matches.

Even more surprising than wickets is the figure of dot balls, i.e. balls on which no runs were scored. Hardik Pandya has bowled a total of 12 overs, in which he has conceded 65 runs at an average of 5.41. In these 12 overs, no runs were scored in 44 balls bowled by Hardik. On the other hand, Bumrah has conceded only 45 runs in 11 overs at an economy of 4.09. No runs were scored in 42 out of his 66 balls.

The purpose of statistics is not comparison

These figures do not mean that Hardik has been more effective or that Bumrah's bowling does not have that edge. Rather, these figures show that as well as Bumrah has led the fast bowling attack, he has also got good support from Hardik, whose form was under question. If both these stars show similar brilliance with the ball in the Super-8, then no one can stop Team India from reaching the semi-finals and then the next target is the title.