Jasprit Bumrah is back – enjoy him while you can

The last few couple of years have been difficult for the Indian fan.

Unceremonious exits from two T20 World Cups, defeats in two formats in South Africa, the decider at Edgbaston, the ODIs in Bangladesh, and the World Test Championship final all hurt, as did the 2-3 drubbing in the T20Is in the West Indies.

It is not that India had missed Jasprit Bumrah for these matches. He played in some of them, and even led India at Edgbaston. He would probably have been rested for the tours of Bangladesh and North America anyway.

At the 2022 T20 World Cup, he was unlikely to have made a difference against England’s bottomless batting line-up after India had crawled to 168-6 in the semi-final.

Of course, an early strike during Australia’s 285-run fourth-wicket stand in July might have altered the course of the WTC final. Or perhaps he might not have let Australia get away from 124-5 in the second innings.

Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj shared nine wickets out of 18, but India’s strategy – four pacers, one of whom could bat – fell apart as Umesh Yadav struggled for rhythm. With Bumrah, it might have been a closer contest.

If one looks at things objectively, the WTC final was the only time over these past few months when India missed Bumrah.

A whopping 24 of his 30 Test matches have been in ‘SENA’ countries. Of his 72 ODIs, 54 have been in bilateral series – but that includes 40 against ‘SENA’ teams, home or away. Out of 45 T20Is, the corresponding numbers read 45 and 26.

All that points to two things. Until their disastrous decision to draft Bumrah back into the side prematurely, against Australia in 2022/23, the BCCI had done a reasonable job of handling his workload. And Indian fans had got used to their team playing without him.

Yet, this has been unlike any other phase since Bumrah burst into international cricket during India’s 2016/17 tour of Australia. Barring the global lockdown, the longest India has gone without him in the side – across formats – has been four months and a bit: his current hiatus stands at nearly eleven months.

It is not a particularly long phase for most, but Bumrah is no ordinary cricketer. No Indian with a hundred wickets in either format matches his Test numbers (average 21.99, strike rate 48.9) or ODI average of 24.30.

It is not about Indian cricket either, for in the 21st century, only two men – Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralitharan – have more wickets at better averages than Bumrah in Test cricket.

India have not been short of stars since Sunil Gavaskar’s rise, but until the late 2010s, they had seldom been fast bowlers. Bumrah’s debut and subsequent rise helped India form their first great pace attack since the 1930s.

But that is about a spectacular career, albeit brief. Missing Bumrah goes beyond that, for Bumrah is beyond a remarkable career, or even the astonishing spells, or even the moments – slower balls to dismiss Shaun Marsh or Ollie Robinson, the absurd slogfest against Stuart Broad.

With Bumrah, you knew that the batters were bound to go on the defensive, and they were not safe even then, as Ian Bishop had summed up: “People are just trying to see him out. But the great thing about him is, even with that, he’s capable of getting you out as well. His pace and skill are so great. That’s why people have such a high regard for him.”

Shami’s numbers made remarkable reading as well. Siraj is 29, but he seems to be getting better. The Indian pacers have done well in Bumrah’s absence. They have no dearth of spinners, several of whom can bat.

But with the World Cup – the grandest stage of cricket’s declining middle format – approaching, the focus will switch to ODIs. And there, no one in the side can match Bumrah’s ability to push batters to the defensive and yet fans anticipate wickets, to Bumrah or at the other end.

The journey to the World Cup begins here, in Ireland. As captain, Bumrah will take a call on if and how to use his four overs, with an eye to remaining fit for the long ODI season. If he can make it, the Asia Cup is the logical next step.

The World Cup is close, but it is also some distance away. Bumrah may play the full tournament. He may be rested for key matches. Or he may be ruled out altogether. It is still too soon to predict with a physique as injury-prone as his.

But while he is here, let us savour the that release point from inside the perpendicular and the bowling arm that descends towards his knees and not past the left hip, leaving the batters – and all of us – guessing whether the 140 kph thunderbolt is aimed for the throat or the toes.