New Delhi: Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s form with the ball in the just-concluded IPL will certainly cheer up the Indian team management. However, his real test will come during the ODI series in Australia this month. Jasprit Bumrah finished IPL-2020 with 27 wickets, the second-highest among the bowlers and the most by an Indian. However, his form with the ball in ODIs has not been that good.
The right-arm bowler suffered a back injury last year. He did not play a single international in 2019 after the tour of West Indies in August. He had played in Tests during the tour. Bumrah came back to international cricket this January and February. However, his performance was a contrast in the two limited-overs formats – ODIs and T20Is.
Bumrah picked up eight wickets in eight T20 games with an economy rate of 6.38. It was better than his career economy rate. However, he struggled to take wickets in the ODIs. He got just one wicket in six ODIs and conceded at 5.1 runs an over.
Former India captain Gautam Gambhir has said that Bumrah is capable of beating the defences of even those batsmen looking to play him off. This observation has seemed possible more in T20 format, considering his recent record in ODIs.
Former India all-rounder Madan Lal was part of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning team. He heaped praise on Bumrah and said that no one could play him easily through the IPL. “Although Rabada has taken more wickets, no one has been able to play Jasprit easily. Also, he has taken crucial wickets,” said Lal.
Lal, however, said that the difference in the number of wickets he got in T20Is and ODIs is because of the nature of the formats. He pointed out that batsmen tend to see a good bowler off in ODIs. In T20 cricket they cannot afford to do that.
“He is a wicket-taking bowler, no doubt. But in 50 overs, the batsmen can adjust. He knows that it is a 10-over spell. There are 40 more overs. In the 20-over format, there are fewer overs. If the batsman halts his run-scoring for three-four overs, the entire game is finished. In 50 overs, you have time. Batsman can adjust. You can endure a spell of 4-5 overs without scoring much. In T20, the batsman has to try to hit every ball,” Lal pointed out.
A look at two of his best spells this season. It was 4/14 against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1 and 4/20 against Rajasthan Royals in a league encounter. The spells show that the batsmen found it difficult to score off him. However, most of his wickets in the two games came while they were trying to go on the attack.
Bumrah, however, feels he has found his rhythm especially after the Super Over against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
“From the first game, I felt my rhythm was up but the last piece in the jig-saw puzzle was missing. When I bowled the Super Over here, there was some anxiety towards the end, but when I bowled that Super Over, I could execute against AB and Virat. Since then, my confidence went up,” he said after the IPL final Tuesday.
It remains to be seen how he fares in Australia and whether he can repeat this IPL form Down Under.
