This IPL, that layer of surprise appears thinner.
Gavaskar points to technical drift:
“His go-to slower ball length has become fuller… the line that used to target the stumps is now drifting to leg stump.”
That marginal shift matters. Bumrah’s slower ball has always worked best when it threatened the stumps first, forcing batters to commit. A fuller, leg-stump line offers release, allowing hitters to access angles, even off mistimed strokes.
There’s also an element of overcomplication.
“He is overdoing things, and that’s hurting him… He should go back to his basics and stick to what works best for him,” Gavaskar noted.
In trying to stay ahead of increasingly prepared batters, Bumrah seems to have added layers, different lengths, slight variations in pace, but in doing so, has he diluted the clarity that once defined the delivery? The slower ball was most effective when it was simple, sharp, and perfectly placed and used sparingly. Now, it occasionally sits in a hittable zone. Also, he has used it too frequently. Against RR, when he had to bowl a maximum of 18 balls, he bowled 10 off-pace ones. Even the uncharacteristic no-balls, six or seven this season, hint at disrupted rhythm.
“He is not known for bowling many no-balls. Trying new things is affecting his rhythm,” Gavaskar added.
For a bowler built on control, rhythm is everything.
There’s also the inevitable factor: familiarity.
Bumrah is no longer an unknown quantity. His release, his cues, his patterns, all are constantly dissected by analysts and rival skippers and coaches through years of data and exposure. Batters aren’t just reacting anymore; they’re anticipating. In T20 cricket’s hyper-analytical ecosystem, even micro-signals get decoded.
And on flatter pitches, the margin for error is negligible. A slower ball that once induced mishits now travels
Is it right to call this IPL the start of a decline for Bumrah?
Gavaskar wants to tread with caution on that one. “It will take just one or two games. Once he starts picking up wickets, he will be back on track.”
Bumrah has faced adaptation cycles before. When yorkers were picked, he leaned into hard lengths. When batters lined those up, he turned to angles and seam. The slower ball itself once emerged as a response to batters getting comfortable.
This could simply be another such phase, where the weapon has been read. Maybe it’s time for the wielder to sharpen it again.