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Jasprit Bumrah. The name itself is enough to conjure up fond memories of a bowler who has touched fast-bowling nirvana. Lest we forget that just one month ago, Bumrah was the toast of an entire nation after his game-breaking performances in the semifinal and final of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Somehow, in a matter of just over a month, a different version of Bumrah seems to be operating in the world of the IPL. Over eight matches, Bumrah has taken only two wickets at an eye-watering average of 132.
Even in the just-concluded Mumbai Indians versus Sunrisers Hyderabad game, the ace fast bowler looked well below his best, ending up with figures of none for 54 in four overs. Just consider this: in his third over, Bumrah attempted as many as five slower ones. Subsequently, in his final over, he once again tried a variety of slower deliveries. In the past, Bumrah has befuddled opponents with his slower-ball mastery. But he usually employed his bagful of tricks in conditions that were tailor-made for using variations.
In contrast, the conditions at the Wankhede Stadium weren’t really conducive to those slower-ball offerings. The essence of the point being that with considerable dew around, the slower ones would just sit up to be smashed. Unfortunately for Bumrah, that is how it panned out on another humid night.
Moreover, Bumrah couldn’t nail his trademark pinpoint yorkers either. Occasionally, he did seem to bend his back a bit more to extract extra lift. However, the radar was mostly off. To summarise, Bumrah’s rhythm looked out of sync.
The one caveat to be added here is that the likes of Trent Boult, Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya, and Deepak Chahar are all going at over 10 an over. And those experienced figureheads of the MI pace-bowling unit haven’t been among the wickets either. With the support cast proving ineffective, Bumrah is under immense pressure to do some heavy lifting for his side.
In an IPL presser, Mahela Jayawardene, the MI head coach, defended his spearhead by observing, “Bumrah is bowling well, it is just where we are not putting pressure in the powerplay.”
Maybe it is a case of mental fatigue. It could also be because of Bumrah carrying a niggle. Who knows? The Indian spearhead might return to form while playing for his country. For now, though, certain screws of the Bumrah template seem to have gone missing. Fingers crossed, Bumrah will soon fix the malfunctioning parts of his magnificent fast-bowling engine.
The post Bumrah – Those four overs that capsulised malfunctioning bowling parts appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.
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