Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from India’s series decider against England at Lord’s due to a knee injury was always going to leave a hole in the bowling attack. But what India missed most wasn’t just his ability to take wickets. It was the control he brought with the new ball, something one saw in the first two ODIs of this series.
In those games, England reached 51/0 and 51/2 in the first 10 overs. While those numbers may not suggest complete domination, they do not tell the full story.
From the first ball of the series, Bumrah rarely allowed England’s left-handed openers to settle. He repeatedly beat Ben Duckett outside off stump, mixed his angles from over and around the wicket and kept Jacob Bethell guessing with movement off the seam. Duckett survived an early LBW appeal to a trademark inswinging yorker, while several deliveries flew past the outside edge.
There was the occasional overpitched delivery that was put away, but they were exceptions. Bumrah’s lengths were consistently challenging, forcing England to earn almost every run. He dismissed Duckett off the very first delivery at Cardiff and even when wickets did not come, he ensured the batters were under pressure and unable to play with complete freedom. With no room to work around, dot deliveries piled up forcing them to attack the rest.
At Lord’s, India could not produce the same sustained pressure in the first 10 overs in Bumrah’s absence.
Arshdeep Singh, playing his first match of the series, generated some movement with the new ball but struggled to find the right lengths consistently. Duckett drove an overpitched delivery through the covers before punishing another full ball on the pads. Bethell, too, picked up a boundary with a flick through the leg side after Arshdeep drifted onto his pads. By the end of his first three overs, Arshdeep had conceded 19 runs, giving England enough scoring opportunities to settle into their innings.
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Prasidh Krishna’s spell followed a different pattern. His first over cost 12 runs as Duckett capitalised on deliveries down the leg side and on the pads. However, the tall fast bowler quickly corrected his lengths. Bowling from the Nursery End, he extracted bounce, beat the bat regularly and bowled three consecutive maidens. Bethell repeatedly played and missed outside off as Prasidh found a fuller, more probing line that finally brought some control back into India’s attack. However, he could not make the inroad that India were looking for, conceding 21 runs in the five overs in the powerplay.
Prince Yadav, introduced before the end of the powerplay, also struggled for consistency. He sprayed deliveries down the leg side, conceded wides and gifted Bethell another boundary on the pads, allowing England to maintain the momentum they had built.
Whether the famous Lord’s slope played a role in India’s new-ball bowlers drifting too straight is difficult to say. India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel had spoken before the match about how batters often need time to adjust to the slope. It was India’s bowlers who found it hard to adjust to the slope in the first 10 overs and ensured England reached 58/0.
What was beyond doubt, however, was the difference Bumrah makes. His value lies not only in wickets but also in his ability to build pressure ball after ball, forcing batters into mistakes and allowing the rest of the attack to operate with fields that remain attacking. Without that early squeeze, England’s openers were able to settle quickly, and India spent much of the powerplay trying to regain the control that Bumrah so often provides naturally.
