'Nothing short of remarkable': Michael Vaughan's high praise for 'magnificent' India bowler

India vs England: It's one thing to score 224 runs batting first, but another altogether to defend it against the No. 1-ranked T20I team in the world.

India produced a run-fest, scoring 224/2 batting first against England in the fifth T20I on Saturday. Half-centuries to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma along with sizeable contributions from Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya formed the crux of India's batting and eventually their 36-run win in the decider.

The Indian team in a huddle. (BCCI)

However, in all this, the performance of India's bowlers almost gets overshadowed. It's one thing to score all those runs, but another altogether to defend it against the No. 1-ranked T20I team in the world. India pacer Shardul Thakur picked up 3/45, including the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, David Malan and Chris Jordan. Once again, it was Thakur picking up two wickets in the over – of Malan and Bairstow – that gave India the advantage defending 225.

However, the one bowler who made life really difficult for England was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With England chasing a stiff target and Jason Roy is tremendous form, Bhuvneshwar cleaned him up the opener for a second-ball duck in the first over. Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons Bhuvneshwar's bowling is a lesson for England bowlers to learn and the India fast bowler is not someone against whom doing homework is enough.

"The key was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He’s a magnificent bowler and he’s the bowler England should be really studying," Vaughan said in a video on Cricbuzz.

"Bhuvneshwar you could argue was the difference between the two sides. To bowl his four overs – 2/15, and economy rate of under four, on a pitch that the ball was travelling into the stands was nothing short of remarkable. And he doesn't bowl 90 miles or 80 miles, but gets close to the stumps and has all variations. I don’t think he bowls to the date. England have got to understand that if you bowl to the data, teams will know that data as well."

Calling Bhuvneshwar an intelligent bowler, Vaughan feels the India quick has all the elements to thrive in international cricket. The former England captain also believes Bhuvneshwar has a sharp cricketing brain, which makes life difficult for any batsman to plan against him, with his variety and unpredictability.

"I look at someone like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and I feel he just studies the batsmen, stares at the batsmen feet and at the last moment, bowls the ball that is the hardest for the batsmen. That's why he's a wonderful bowler. He's got the swing, the cutter the back of the hand delivery and he's also got the mind… very clever. If there's anything in the series I will tell England to copy, that is Bhuvneshwar's bowling," Vaughan explained.

"You just look at his consistency across all the series. He’s obviously a bowler the batters are finding very, very difficult. He sets the tone in the first over. He gets a bit of movement and swing either way. As a batsman you can’t line him up. He crams them with that ball that comes back. Jason Roy will tell you all about that ball. He’s got the skills, the mind and the cricket brain when he’s bowling."