No rest for Jasprit Bumrah after India's pace magician goes through the worst tournament of his career in Asia Cup

Jasprit Bumrah has faced challenges in the Asia Cup. His inconsistent performance, including an economy of 8.36, raises concerns despite his previous success.

It hasn’t been the most productive return to international T20 cricket for Jasprit Bumrah. Used differently from the past when captains preferred to load up a majority of his overs for the second half, India’s premier strike force has leaked runs by the bushel in the Asia Cup, struggling for the accuracy and control that, allied with his immense skills, have made him the most feared bowler in the contemporary game.

India's Jasprit Bumrah bowls during the Asia Cup 2025(AFP)

Before this tournament, the 31-year-old hadn’t played a T20I since the World Cup final against South Africa in June 2024. He missed the first few matches of Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2025 campaign with a lower back injury that struck him down halfway through the Sydney Test in January, but seemed none the worse for it, stacking up 18 wickets from 12 outings at a niggardly 6.67 runs per over – none of the other 38 bowlers with ten or more wickets dipped under seven an over.

In 245 T20s until September 10, when India played UAE in their first Group A outing, Bumrah had bowled three overs in the Powerplay just 11 times; only one of them was in an international outing, against Australia in Visakhapatnam in 2019. Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir have opted to use him differently in the Emirates; in each of his three appearances, Bumrah has delivered three-fourths of his allotment inside the first six overs.

“He's gone very well,” assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate insisted on Tuesday evening, ahead of the Super Four clash against Bangladesh. “It wasn't his most polished performance against Pakistan the other night, but we also understand that he's doing an exceptionally tough job to bowl the first three overs with (only) two (fielders) out and the second last over when guys are going as well. It's easy to look at 0-45 the other night but we're still happy with that performance.

“There's going to be days where he doesn't get wickets and he's going to go for runs. But in terms of how we set up a team, with two seamers and going spin-heavy, we feel at the moment that's the best job (for Bumrah to bowl three upfront). We can be flexible around this strategy but the other night when Pakistan were going well and we were trying to close out the Powerplay, he was the right option.”

In his understated way, ten Doeschate sounded out a gentle warning: “He's a top, top performer, as good as it gets. He’ll have better nights.”

The former Dutch international is known not to beat about the bush. There has been intense speculation over whether Bumrah will figure in the Test squad, to be announced on Wednesday, for the West Indies series starting on October 2. Obliquely hinting that he could be in the mix, ten Doeschate practically ruled out the superstar being rested in this competition.

“Bearing in mind we have a Test match starting on Thursday (next), it's quite good preparation in terms of workload management. He's probably going to bowl in the region of 25-26 overs in training and preparation, which is a fairly good number going into a Test,” ten Doeschate pointed out. “We want to pick our best team for every game, he obviously fits into that picture. It's the right amount of work for him going into the Test match.”

For now, the Tests can wait. With the Asia Cup speeding towards its denouement, India need Bumrah at his very best. Starting, they’d hope, from Wednesday night.