We can’t be the only ones feeling that Jasprit Bumrah is looking way too off-colour in this Asia Cup. Usually, he’s literally unplayable, but in the last match against Pakistan, he went for 45 runs without taking a single wicket in his 4 overs.
Out of those, 34 runs came just in his first 3 overs, making it his most expensive powerplay spell in T20I history. Not just that, his lengths were all over the place. Sure, the yorker was landing well, but he bowled no-balls in both matches. On top of that, he was being hit for sixes off full tosses as well.
The real issue is, the world isn't used to this. Before this Asia Cup, Bumrah had bowled 14 overs across 4 T20Is against Pakistan, conceding only 76 runs at an exceptional economy of 5.4 per over. But in just 2 Asia Cup games now, he has already leaked 73 runs.
Bumrah's spells vs Pakistan in T20Is
4-0-45-0 (Asia Cup 25)
4-0-28-2 (Asia Cup 25)
4-0-14-3 (T20 WC 24)
3-0-22-0 (T20 WC 22)
4-0-32-1 (T20 WC 16)
3-2-8-1 (Asia Cup 16)
In fact, in the last match, Shivam Dube had to step in to control the run flow. Thankfully, Dube has been bowling well in this Asia Cup, otherwise, the team management might have been tempted to make some changes in the pace department. Honestly, apart from Bumrah, there's no other specialist pacer in the playing XI right now, and it's Hardik Pandya who shares the new ball with him.
Wait a second, there’s also Arshdeep Singh in the squad, who just became the first Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in T20Is. Looking at Boom Boom's current form, can the left-arm pacer be a possible replacement for Bumrah? Or, should Team India consider playing both Bumrah and Arshdeep?
Arshdeep Singh in T20Is
Arshdeep took just 64 innings to reach the 100-wicket milestone in T20Is. Whereas, the next Indian in line is Yuzvendra Chahal with 96 scalps in 79 outings. The greatest bowler of this generation, Bumrah, has so far bagged 92 wickets in the shortest format despite playing 7 more games than Arshdeep.
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