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Jasprit Bumrah is widely acknowledged as one of the best fast bowlers in the world, he is a bowler, not easy to score off or easy to smash for boundaries, however this season's IPL has seen an uncharacteristic beginning to Mumbai Indians star. He hasn't picked a single wicket in first three matches. This is a bit surprising for a bowler of Bumrah's calibre.

 

His sluggish start to the season has been one reason for MI's disappointing two losses in the first three matches.

 

A Rarity in Stats

 

Bumrah's current figures are definitely not something many fans would associate with the pace bowler. Having bowled 11 overs without taking a wicket in three matches with an economy of 8, which is still decent enough in a T20 game but it's the highest it's ever been for him since 2015.

 

His last two seasons have been exceptionally consistent, with an economy of 6.48 and 6.67 respectively, during the era of teams scoring 200+ on a regular basis. In the last season, he took 16 wickets and finished 7th in the list of leading wicket-takers. The year before that he was the third leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets.

 

This makes his form stand out that bit more. While a single or two bad games might not mean much but going without a wicket in three consecutive matches is just not something he's known to do.

 

This was particularly evident in the game against Rajasthan Royals. In his very first over Bumrah was hit for 14 runs (something rarely ever seen), a 15 year old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked him without fear of what's to come and even managed to hit him for six off the very first ball, the first three overs saw RR on 59 and MI under the pump.

 

He ended that game with figures of 34 runs in 3 overs and zero wickets to show for his efforts and was something more than just a bad day for the bowlers as the same pattern was seen over the initial matches.

 

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Accuracy Slightly off the Mark

 

Bumrah's inaccuracy has been the biggest factor to his struggle this season. He is a bowler who has always hit the right length from the get-go. Bumrah has been a tad bit off in that regard in these first few games.

 

For example, the half-volley on the very first ball of his spell against RR was punished for a six and this is something very rare for Bumrah to do. Even slight error in line and length are punished in T20 cricket and this is what's happening at the moment.

 

Bumrah faced a setback in form of a lower back injury last year, returned from it strongly and went on to have a very good IPL, however even then the signs were evident and his accuracy wasn't on point but he was somehow covering it up due to his variations in T20 cricket. Today the small inaccuracies are costing him.

 

There was a time where batters respected him too much to take risks and this was one of the reasons for him to keep a lid on the runs, and build up the pressure but with young guns like Sooryavanshi who are fearless attacking Bumrah from ball one it is changing.

 

Lack of Support Attack

 

Another reason which has also not gone in favor of Bumrah is the lack of a supporting attack for him. Bumrah is the only one who has bowled well in a few parts for the MI. Most of the other bowlers except Mitchell Santner in one match have gone for well over 10 runs an over.

 

This makes the pressure immense on Bumrah as he is expected to control runs as well as take wickets at the same time. He has had support bowling partners like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and then Lasith Malinga previously and the lack of support now is making things difficult.

 

This is where bowling like batting relies heavily on partnerships and when there's no support on one end, the other bowler finds it hard to build pressure on the batsmen. This has shown with MI suffering two losses in the first three games and it seems to be more of a team issue rather than a sole issue for Bumrah.

 

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No Real Cause of Concern Though

 

Bumrah's start to the IPL however does not suggest any major reason to worry as his economy rate is 8, which is still a brilliant figure in T20 cricket, the stat only appears high due to his past records.

 

He is a bowler with incredible talent and the ability to bounce back strong at any given moment. A bowler like Bumrah won't go without a wicket for long, all it might take is one outstanding spell for the speedster to find his rhythm and run.

 

However, the real worry for MI should be the form of the bowling unit in general. If they can lend support to Bumrah the other bowlers would likely reduce the pressure, thus making things easier for him to get going again.

 

At the moment, it is an anomaly but for the time being he is indeed going through a period of the unusual, but knowing Bumrah, it's only a matter of time until we see him in full flow once more.