Five matches in the UK so far, including a washout, and two things are clear after four Indian defeats. First, these conditions have been formidable for Indian batsmen in the past, and they continue to be so for them. Second, India is half a side without Jasprit Bumrah.
Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna… neither do they appear to have the skills of Bumrah nor the leadership and killer instincts of Bumrah. All of them are good bowlers, taking nothing away from them, but to be a good bowler is one thing, to be a genius another. They don’t look the type who puts their hand up in the hour of crisis. Prince Yadav can be excused though, he is too new and getting his bearings at present.
Fans need not be reminded of some of Bumrah’s recent shows with the ball. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, in what was a virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Bumrah took two wickets in an over to take at least 20 runs off their overall total. India won the match with 4 balls to go. Against England in the semifinal at the Wankhede, he bowls the 18th over and against the dangerous duo of Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran concedes just six runs in a high-scoring contest to push Harry Brook’s team back decisively. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final, it looked as good as over for Rohit Sharma’s men when Bumrah bowled a terrific 15th over to reignite the entire bowling unit. In his next over, he cleaned up Marco Jansen to bring the team truly back into the contest.
Bumrah makes others look good too
There are many more instances across formats. Sadly, the rest of the pacers ain’t as good. Prasidh Krishna gave away 0/57 against Ireland in the first game. In T20Is, wicket-taking is not the most important skill. Containing a side is equally important, if not more. Bumrah, even if he doesn’t take wickets, guarantees a tight over more often than not, puts the opposition under pressure, and other bowlers benefit from it. Hardik Pandya benefited from a tight over in the 2024 World Cup final: Bumrah gave away just four runs in the 15th over, and Pandya removed Heinrich Klaasen off the first delivery of the next over. Pandya again benefited from a tight 18th Bumrah over in the semifinal against England earlier this year and got rid of Curran in the next over. In the same match, Bumrah in the 16th over had given just 8 runs. 499 runs were scored in that match, and 14 runs in those two overs of Bumrah made all the difference for Team India as they eventually won by seven runs.
Arshdeep and Harshit have leaked runs in the last two games at a combined economy rate of around 10. The premium bowlers in the absence of Bumrah! So, Bumrah makes others look good too.
Bumrah has largely been the reason behind India’s dominance in world cricket across formats in the last 7-8 years. And the BCCI has not been able to find anyone who could even remotely match his skillset. But then someone like Bumrah can’t be produced by a system; they can only be helped by a system.
Anyway, Team India is struggling without him. He is not getting younger anymore. He has had a couple of bad injuries already. He can’t play every match for India. He has to be selective as he has been in the last couple of years. India is particularly missing him in the UK. He would not have been missed so much back in India. Because on the flat wickets of India with small boundaries around, batsmen come into their own, but in the UK, it’s difficult. They bat for survival, largely. And when Bumrah is not there, the situation becomes totally hopeless, as we have seen in the last couple of weeks.