Decoding the success combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah in ODIs, T20Is : A Statistical Analysis
Under MS Dhoni's captaincy, a lot of shuffling took place in the playing XI, after 2011 World Cup. The reason behind this was the transition phase of the Indian team. This had to happen since the old warhorses (like Sehwag, Gambhir, Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan) had to be offloaded owing to age, injuries and form. As a result, the hunt for fresh blood players began and the transition (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashwin, Jadeja) happened seamlessly. But, the second half of MS Dhoni's captaincy era witnessed a dearth of quality and consistent fast bowlers. This proved as one of the main obstacles for the cool captain.
After Zaheer Khan was dropped, the team was craving for good fast bowlers, and they tried and tested many, (Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and a young lad Bhuvneshwar Kumar) but neither of them could hold onto their places for long. From IPL 2015, Bhuvneshwar Kumar began to prove as a lethal bowler for his franchise SRH. Little did the national team know that they would get another gem at the same time. Yes, it was the unorthodox bowler from Baroda, named Jasprit Bumrah. Fast forward 3 years, now this duo have been the go-to bowlers for the young skipper Virat Kohli across all formats. Thus, the reasons behind the successful combination of this deadly duo in limited overs would be discussed here.
Firstly, parameters like pace of deliveries, line and length, and special abilities that the two bowlers could showcase on any match-day, shall be discussed below.
a) BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR:
After Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the best swing bowler for the team till date. He can generate swing at a speed of 130-135 kph and rarely even exceeding 140 kph. He could bowl inswingers as well as outswingers frequently at ease. These are highly effective for him as he could dismiss many batsmen within the mandatory powerplay. His X-factor delivery is the knuckle ball. As the name suggests, the ball is held onto the knuckles, such that the ball is released at a slower speed, which deceives the batsman.
b) JASPRIT BUMRAH:
For several year the Indian team had been searching for a bowler who could bowl effective yorkers. Suddenly, out of the blue, a young lad, Bumrah started bowling good yorkers in IPL 2015. BCCI hit the bulls-eye by picking him for International matches. He has an unorthodox bowling action and he can bowl deliveries above 135 kph and he can clock speeds of 140+ kph quite consistently. During the powerplay, he often bowls good length and short pitched deliveries. His X-factor delivery is the yorker and he preserves it mostly for the death overs.
NOTE 1: Since, the stats have been gathered for Jasprit Bumrah too, Bhuvneshwar Kumar's stats have been considered only from the former’s debut (i.e Jan 2016).
NOTE 2: The stats are collected till the recently concluded ODI and T20I series versus Windies.
As far as the stats are concerned, the 5 parameters which have been taken into consideration are,
· Average Economy (Powerplay and Death overs)
· Wickets / Match Ratio
· Performance (Bowling 1st and Bowling 2nd )
· Performance (Home and Away matches)
· % of Wicket-taken Innings.