Jasprit Bumrah had his worst day in office as an Indian cricketer in the IND vs NZ 5th T20I. Usually a miserly bowler, the Indian spearhead was taken to all parts of the ground in the Men in Blue's 46-run win victory of the Kiwis at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Bumrah went wicketless as New Zealand scored 225 in their chase of 271 on Saturday. He bowled his most expensive over, conceding 22 runs to Daryl Mitchell and Bevon Jacobs in his third over. The agony did not end their for the Mumbai Indians pacer, who conceded 58 in his 4 overs, the most he has ever done in a T20I.
Bumrah's form is a cause of concern for the Men in Blue. The right-arm pacer is amongst the greatest bowlers in the world but has hit a rough patch in recent times. In the IND vs NZ series, Bumrah played 4 games, striking only 4 times.
He has conceded at 9.46, compared to a career economy rate of under 6.5. For reference, Arshdeep Singh alone picked 5 wickets in the T20I on Saturday. Bumrah has conceded more than 15 only 12 times in his T20I career of over 86 matches. Two of those instances have come in this series.
His 4-0-58-0 is also his worst spell in India colours. Bumrah has conceded more than 50 only once in his career for India. In 261 games before, the highest Jasprit had conceded 56 in a four over spell.
Bumrah's quality is not to be questioned. The 32-year-old was key in India's ICC T20 World Cup triumph in 2024 and will once again take centre stage when the title defence begins on February 7.
