Shami, Siraj, Bumrah: Rohit Sharma’s house of dragons breathes fire into India’s scary-good World Cup rampage

Sometime around 8.30 PM last evening, when India were about to wind up the formalities and moments away from securing a place in the semifinal of the World Cup 2023, news of HBO’s hit show House of the Dragon’s Season 2 premiere date dropped.

The timing of the news and its alignment with India’s annihilation of Sri Lanka couldn’t have been more perfectly synchronised as Rohit Sharma’s own set of mercenaries – Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah – were breathing fire and charring up one Sri Lankan batter after another.

Fear comes in various forms; in different shapes and sizes. Westeros felt it when Daenerys Targaryen, perched on one of her dragons, burnt down Harrenhal. It was one of the most unexpected scenes in the entire Game of Thrones, probably only next to The Red Wedding. On Sunday though, Rohit was the Father of Dragons. He whispered DRACARYS… and pandemonium ensued. Destruction. Devastation. Demolition. Dangerous.

Terrifying. Insane… use all the adjectives you want to, but for a generation of Indians that grew up envying fast bowlers around the world, the 17 overs from hell which Shami, Bumrah and Siraj bowled was a sight immensely satisfying.

3-1-1-4. This isn’t a helpline number. These were Shami’s figures after the 14th over of Sri Lanka’s chase. He came to bowl in the 10th over, after Siraj and Bumrah were given a pretty decent head-start and still ended up picking more wickets than the two combined. Their run-up, rhythm, release, seam, follow through, pace, swing, edges, beats were electrifying. Right from the moment when Bumrah pinned Pathum Nissanka on the pads, the ball was moving here, there and everywhere. It wasn’t just swing. It was a throwback to the good old banana swing, at over 140 clicks. During those two hours, Wankhede had turned into the WACA of the early 1990s, not due to the pitch, but because of Rohit’s very own versions of Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. Unplayable doesn’t even suffice. Frightening? Maybe.

Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama have been Sri Lanka’s most consistent batters this World Cup with over 300 runs each; and yet neither’s feet moved. Rather they weren’t allowed to. They were rushed, beaten, made to hop and jump, take blows on their body and even run for cover. When it was Kusal Mendis’ turn to face chin music, Bumrah fired in two inswingers before switching back to the outswinger, nearly ending in a return catch. Freak bowling.

Bumrah will never pick as many wickets as the other two. Why? Because he is so impeccable that half his career deliveries will go down as near misses. These are extraordinary deliveries. “I just need to see him through” is the mindset of batters while facing him in the Powerplay. And the numbers back it. Bumrah has 10 wickets at an average of 18.70 and a miserly economy of 2.87. When Bumrah returns in the middle and death overs, he gets reverse. How do you counter it?

If Bumrah had a wicket off the first ball, as did Siraj. Shami wasn’t as good – needing three balls. He probably heard it from somewhere so bettered it with two off four. Hit the deck hard, got it to move in, move out, on that rewarding back of a length zone, over the wicket, round the wicket and clattered the stumps. Hostility of the highest order. Most wickets by an Indian at World Cups, 14 wickets in three games after sitting out the first four, Shami is tearing it up at the CWC ’23. Not one of his 45 wickets are LBW – 13 bowled, 32 caught. Nightmarish.

Thrice have India bowled Sri Lanka out for less than 100 this year, and in all three, Siraj played a role upfront. “There is no hiding from India’s bowling,” Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood had said. He was also optimistic that his team’s hammering in the Asia Cup will serve as added motivation for the team. He expected the boys to come out, display abundance of spirit, and wholeheartedly engage with the Indian side in a determined fight. Clearly, only one of his theories was proved right. Siraj brought back the ghost of the Asia Cup final with an eerily familiar sight, and there was no looking back.

With three wickets in seven balls, Siraj was only marginally behind his four-wicket-over at Colombo in September. Remember how two days back the world was raging over Shaheen Afridi’s round the wicket peach that cleaned up Mahmudullah? The delivery that was hailed as a ‘Wasim Akram-like’ ball and what not? This jaffa was on similar lines, only better. Bowling wide, Siraj angled a 142 kph rocket to Mendis, who got in position but had no answer to the ball holding its line and crashing on top of off. For all the five that Shami picked, this was possibly the best wicket of the match. In 10 ODIs against Sri Lanka, Siraj has picked 16 wickets for 85 runs at an average of 5.31. Un-frikkin-believable.

The best fast-bowling trio in the world?

Until last evening, when was the last time you saw three fielders positioned in the slip cordon? Can’t think of it? It’s because there hasn’t been a pace trio quite like this in a while. For every Shaheen-Haris Rauf-Naseem Shah or Pat Cummins-Mitchell Starc-Josh Hazlewood, there is now a Shami-Siraj-Bumrah. And props to Rohit, Rahul Dravid and everyone else involved for assembling this unit of fire-breathing dragons. With the World Cup at the top of their priority list, they knew from the beginning who will take the charge when push comes to shove.

While Bumrah was away nursing his back, India threw Siraj into deep waters, with a hope that he will swim out of it as he did in Tests. The result was that in less than 18 months, he became the No. 1-ranked bowler in the world. India tried every possible option at their disposal – Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik. That 12 out of India’s squad at the Asian Games were already capped cricketers shows India never hesitated in experimenting. They endured losses and even came under intense public scrutiny, but were always aware of the bigger picture.

There is a reason why India stand out as a complete, well-oiled machine, exuding shades of the mighty Australia. (If there was ever a more opportune time) They’re looking scary-good and can’t stop, won’t stop until they lift that exquisite piece of silverware.