New Delhi: Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar has advised India to use Jasprit Bumrah for bowling two overs in the powerplay of the Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, noting that early breakthroughs from the fast-bowling spearhead could derail the opposition before finding their rhythm.
Bumrah holds the second-best economy rate (6.3) among bowlers who bowled more than seven overs in the Super Eights. He has conceded only three sixes in the entire tournament. Unlike a usual set approach, India have deployed Bumrah flexibly, using him as a trump card at decisive junctures.
Against South Africa, he bowled two overs in the powerplay and two at the back end. In the crunch five-wicket win over the West Indies in Kolkata, Bumrah bowled only one over in the powerplay and had three of his overs reserved for the second half of the West Indies innings, where he delivered his trademark yorkers and subtle variations.
The 12th over underlined his impact as he removed Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase in the space of three deliveries. With India using Bumrah in different ways, it sets the tone for a tactical clash between him and England’s batting line-up led by skipper Harry Brook.
“Yes, that is going to be something worth watching. I do believe that he should be bowling at least two overs in the power play because as a new-ball bowler with the brand-new ball, if he can get those two wickets or get Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Harry Brook, he will have pretty much broken the back of the England batting.
“So, him coming in to bowl the fifth over when four overs have already been bowled and the batters, they have got about 20 deliveries, which means that both batters have got about 8-10 deliveries to settle in.
“But wouldn’t it be better for Bumrah and India if Bumrah were to bowl to them first and get them out rather than Bumrah coming in to bowl, when they have already had about 8-10 deliveries under their belt?” said Gavaskar, while replying to a query from IANS in an interaction ahead of the DP World Celebrity Golf Event to create awareness on the CHAMPS Foundation.
On what still makes Bumrah the most difficult bowler to face in the cricketing world, Gavaskar felt it is his relentless self-evolution and the near-impossible ability to conceal his variations.
“Well, I’m so happy I’m in the commentators’ box and not facing him. But what you see with Jasprit Bumrah is the little additions that he makes to his bowling repertoire. So, when he started, he was predominantly a bowler who bowled in swingers to the right-handers and the natural away-going ball to the left-hander.
“But in the first season itself, when India went to England in 2018, that’s when he actually showed that he would be able to get the ball to move into the left-hander and take it away from the right-hander. So, he’s somebody who keeps working hard at adding something to his bowling. Then the slower bouncer and yorker, and he just keeps on adding something.
He also noted that Bumrah gives away very little cues in terms of what delivery he can bowl to batters. “Because he has very little change in his run-up or even in his delivery action, no batter can be prepared. Most of the time with most bowlers, not all bowlers, if you’re at the non-striker’s end and you observe the bowlers very carefully from the time they’re walking back after bowling a ball to walking to the top of their run-up, then you will always find there is some little sign because they’re also thinking of which ball to bowl.
“There is some little sign that gives them away. Maybe a little shrug of the shoulder, maybe a little sort of flick of the shirt or something where you sort of and then the ball comes in. You see that over a period of time and you realize, ‘Oh, that is the thing when he’s looking to do that,’” he added.
He also drew a vivid parallel of batters trying to pick Bumrah with tennis legend Andre Agassi’s famous reading of Boris Becker’s serve. “If you have read Andre Agassi’s book, how did he pick up where Boris Becker was going to serve? Because he wasn’t able to pick his serve the first few times that he played him.
“Then he realized that if he had his tongue on the left as he tossed the ball up, then he would be serving wide. If he had his tongue on the right, then he would be serving on the center line. So, you try and observe that.
“But in Bumrah’s case, he doesn’t give you anything away and therefore, it’s very, very difficult to read because he sort of goes wide and then delivers the ball. You often tend to think it’s going to basically come in, but he can get the ball to move away. So that’s why he’s been such a devastating bowler in all three forms.”
What will also boost the case of making Bumrah bowl in power-play is Jos Buttler being in woeful form. Buttler has made only 62 runs in seven innings at an average of 8.85, though he had scores of 29 and 21 in England’s league stage games at the Wankhede Stadium. But Indian fans will remember Buttler playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2016 and 2017 and scoring 116 for Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in 2022.
“He can be the kind of dangerous player that Abhishek Sharma is. So getting Jos Buttler’s wicket is going to be a big, big deal because we’ve seen in the IPL and also in the ICC events, that he can be such a destructive batter.
“He’s going through a lean patch, just like how Samson went through before this, or even Suryakumar Yadav was going through for some time now. So, we just, let’s keep our fingers crossed as Indian supporters that he doesn’t find form on Thursday,” added Gavaskar.
He further stated that the threat of England’s in-form all-rounder Will Jacks would hinge on how much turn the pitch offers and that India’s right-handers may need to shoulder a greater share countering him. Jacks has been England’s standout performer of the tournament and knows Wankhede Stadium conditions well due to his stint with Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025.
Jacks claimed player-of-the-match honours in England’s wins over Nepal, Italy, Sri Lanka and New Zealand for his all-round contributions. He has scored 191 runs at a strike rate of 176.85 and taken seven wickets with his off-spin at an economy rate of 9.68.
“If there’s a little bit of turn in the Wankhede pitch, he could be a handful. So how maybe a Samson or Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya handle him is going to be a key feature. Maybe he might not get to bowl too many deliveries to the left-handers in the team, whether it is Abhishek or Tilak or Ishan Kishan or maybe down the order, Shivam Dube.
“Maybe the right-handers might have to do more of the batting against him. But yes, he’s on a roll. Sometimes you have a tournament where everything is going right for you. Even with the bat, he’s scoring handy runs for his team down the order.
“To have somebody like him batting at number seven is a real plus for England. Just like we saw having Shivam Dube at number seven was such a big plus. He came in and in one over, he hit two boundaries and took the pressure off,” he added.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
