What's gone wrong for Jasprit Bumrah this IPL? The GOAT fast bowler has had an unusually subdued campaign for Mumbai Indians (MI). While his economy rate of 8.36 this season is still good, the wickets have almost dried up: he has taken just four in 13 games, making for his poorest average (102.50) across the 13 seasons he has played.
It was already known that Bumrah entered the season carrying a niggle, which affected his pace in the first half of the tournament. His workload was managed as he built up his speeds. He seemed to be bowling at full tilt in the last few games, yet the wickets have not followed. It is noteworthy that he has played all games this season despite his workload management.
Take his numbers right before the IPL: 14 wickets in eight matches at the T20 World Cup. Right after, Bumrah - and other World Cup players - jumped into the IPL. So, was Bumrah's dip a result of fatigue? MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene pointed to a combination of factors as to why Bumrah has not been able to hit his mark this season.
"I think coming back from the World Cup as well he [Bumrah] had a slight niggle which he played with through the World Cup," Jayawardene said. "So, we gave him adequate rest to come back. The first four-five games, it was a gradual build-up for him to get over that niggle he had. So, you could see the pace… dropped because of that.
"And now he's back to his pace. The last four-five games have been good. But obviously, when you're going through something like that, you do lose a little bit of sharpness of execution and all that because you're fighting something else. But I think health-wise, he's 100% - [just] unfortunate this season is over for us.
"I think the teams have not taken too much risk against him in certain situations. They played him out because we haven't been able to create pressure around him as well, in the sense that other bowlers haven't been able to create that pressure that we needed to. So, tactically, the teams have played him differently. So I can't say it's just one thing, there was a combination of quite a few things. But I wouldn't worry about Booms. I think he's in good spirit, and he will come back strong."
Bumrah had continued to rely on his wicket-taking deliveries - the slower balls and the yorkers - this season, but they have not delivered the breakthroughs. He has so far bowled 82 slower balls at an economy rate of 8.27, and 31 yorkers at just 3.6, but neither has brought him even a single wicket. This is also a season where he has conceded the most boundaries (43) and the joint-second-most sixes (12).
Jayawardene also revealed that Bumrah encountered "issues" with his run-up this season, which resulted in several front-foot no-balls (seven no-balls, the most by any bowler this season). Bumrah also bowled the first over of the innings only five games into the season. This move was strategic, Jayawardene said. He added that the MI think-tank had several conversations with Bumrah about his form throughout the season.
"Bumrah is very experienced now. I think he knew as well [he wasn't in form]. So it was a collective conversation with his training staff as well," Jayawardene said. "Where do we push him and how do we... There was a workload management as well, how much he could hold in nets or preparation. So initially we tried to tactically also hold him in situations so that he's not too under pressure.
"But being the lead bowler, he was always under pressure, like bowling at the death. But we used him in different ways this season, so that it does give him a bit more freedom. But he understands that. When he comes back and he smiles and says, 'Coach, that didn't work, let's try something different' kind of thing. So it's been a good conversation. I think we all learn from these kinds of seasons and managing all that."
There have been signs of a revival of sorts for Bumrah in the last few games. Jayawardene commended his continued effort behind the scenes. "One thing is for sure, there's no doubt that he put in [a lot of work] during these six or eight weeks to get back to where he should be. I mean, the last few games, he was top-notch. He was all back again, bowling that 140-142 (kph) mark.
"He had a few issues with his run-up, purely because it was with the niggle that he had. He was bowling quite a few no-balls this season, if you remember. That's to do with the build-up. So that's something that he again went back and worked on. Whenever we had long breaks, he was working on that.
"So I can't take anything away from his work ethic and what he puts off the field. It's just that it didn't happen on the field. But we've had good conversations, and we know what we needed to do. We tried, it didn't work. But we just need to move on from that."