CHENNAI: Jasprit Bumrah was walking back to his bowling mark with a wry smile on his face. He had just watched Shubman Gill drop Pakistan’s Faheem Ashraf in the deep on the fifth ball of the penultimate over in their Super 4 clash.
It had been that kind of a day. The ace pacer had gone for 34 runs in his first three overs — all in the powerplay — before finishing with 0/45. It was the most runs he had ever given in a T20 powerplay and only the fourth time he finished with more than ten runs per over in a full spell. For any other bowler, it was just a bad day out. Not Bumrah; he is not like any other bowler. Bumrah going for as many runs as he did and not taking any wickets is an anomaly.
However, there is one common thing when it comes to Bumrah at this Asia Cup. Unlike before, India has been front-loading him in the powerplay, bowling at least three overs with the new ball. This is not how Bumrah is usually used. He used to bowl one or two overs up front and come back later to bowl in the second half of the innings.
In all three games he has played this Asia Cup, Bumrah has bowled all three up front in the first six overs. Though the UAE and the group match against Pakistan was not much of a contest, the Super 4s game showed why it might not be the best option when it comes to big games at least.
According to skipper Suryakumar Yadav, the rationale behind it is to use Bumrah as an attacking option. "If he picks two wickets, even if he bowls a tight spell of his overs, later on we can have a good cushion for all the spinners to come over and make our job a little easier,” he had said after the first win over Pakistan. After the Super 4s match against Pakistan, Yadav said: That's fine, he's not a robot, he will have a bad day someday. Shivam Dube bailed us out of the situation.”
The thing about using Bumrah up front is that it leaves only one over from him and forces the skipper to use Dube and Pandya to the fullest if the spinners go for runs. That becomes the clause here — if the spinners have a bad day. In Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, India have 12 overs in the bank, and when those 12 overs cannot be used, Dube and Pandya come into the picture.
In saying that, India do have the luxury of resting Arshdeep Singh, who might come in for Bumrah in the next two games. Which begs the question, something that was asked when the squad was picked, whether India needed Bumrah for this tournament, especially with the home Test season getting underway. That, however, is for later.
For now, it has all worked out well for India, but if Dube does have a poor outing, which is not out of the realm of things, then things might get tricky. The clashes against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will give a better idea in the coming days. And if Bumrah does play and have days similar to those he had against Pakistan, it might force the team management to rethink the strategy on how to make the most of the luxury that is Jasprit Bumrah.
