Kaif points out Bumrah's absence in death overs; Analysing IND star's phase-wise stats in T20Is

Jasprit Bumrah during Asia Cup 2025 - (Source : AFP)

India entered another Asia Cup final effortlessly after the Men in Blue beat Bangladesh by 41 runs on Wednesday, September 24. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side is yet to face a defeat in this tournament, but also far away from playing a perfect match.

India had a lot of flaws against Bangladesh, which included dropped catches and Jasprit Bumrah going for runs. It is an unusual sight for an Indian fan to see the right-arm seamer go for runs, like he is in this Asia Cup.

Lets look at how Jasprit has fared so far in this tournament

Observation

• One of the major reasons why Bumrah has not looked as effective as he has been in previous occasions because of Suryakumar Yadav's fixed tactic to give three overs to the right-arm seamer within the powerplay.
• What happens is that the players fears Bumrah less because all they get to do is clear the 30-yard-circle. Even if the batter decides to play the MI star carefully, then they are relaxed that for the next 14 overs, they just have to face one over of Bumrah, which is less worrisome compared to the 31-year-old left with two or three overs post powerplay.

Kaif Makes A Key Observation On Bumrah's Ineffectiveness In Asia Cup

"Bumrah under Rohit would generally bowl overs 1, 13, 17, 19. Under Surya, in Asia cup, he bowled a three-overs spell at the start. To avoid injury, Bumrah these days, prefers to bowl while his body is warmed up. 1 over of Bumrah in the remaining 14 overs is a huge relief for batters, against stronger teams at World Cup, this could hurt india," remarked Kaif on his Twitter account.

Bumrah quickly corrected Kaif in his assessment, but let's check out whether Mohammad Kaif was right in his Bumrah opinion or not, or is Suryakumar Yadav making a big mistake and wasting Jasprit's overs in powerplay.

Observations

• Looking at the stats, it is true that Bumrah's effectiveness is at its peak during the death overs. Further, out of 266 overs, the 31-year-old has bowled nearly 100 overs in the death, which has brought success to India in previous tournament.
• Out of the 100 overs, Bumrah has 46 wickets at a strike-rate of 15, which is way better than 33 wickets in 128 overs at a strike-rate of 23.3.

Conclusion

While the intention to try Bumrah with three overs in the powerplay to pick up early wickets and put on early pressure is good, but not having world's best bowler outside of powerplay won't do much good to India in bigger tournaments like T20 World Cup. 

Also, Jasprit reverted to Mohammad Kaif's remarks and called him inaccurate over not bowling in the death because of injury concerns, but the former India batter was right when he stated that the Men in Blue require the right-arm seamer toward the death.

---

ALSO READ

"Inaccurate": Jasprit Bumrah fact checks Kaif over 'avoiding death overs' remark

---