Indian bowling lacks bite without Jasprit Bumrah; middle planning everywhere

Cardiff (Wales), July 16 (ANI): India’s Jasprit Bumrah during the warm-up session ahead of the 2nd ODI against England at the Sophia Gardens Stadium in Cardiff on Thursday. (NOT a photo) TimesofIndia.com in London: Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett took a warm, pleasant and sunny morning at Lord’s Cricket Ground with some ease on Sunday. The duo got off to a slow start when they won the toss but picked up the pace during the day in the third ODI against India. Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna took over the new responsibilities with the ball, Jasprit Bumrah was unavailable due to a left knee injury sustained in an impact during the second ODI. Reactive swelling in his left knee sidelined India’s leading seamer and Arshdeep took his place in the deciding series.Krishna plugged the gaps with back-to-back maiden overs as he found his line, length and extra bounce. A streak of 20 dots defined the 30-year-old’s day. Unfortunately, with Bumrah not there to help the effort at the other end and nobody even remotely approaching what ‘Boom’ offers, the struggle to find the wicket or apply pressure by stemming the flow of runs continued. Prince Yadav, who came on as a replacement for the injured Washington Sundar, who is playing just his third ODI, launched an 11-run over, including a massive wide that eluded wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan’s desperate dive.If calm bowling wasn’t enough, the extras continued to play England’s cards. India donated 26 overs, including 16 wide and nine legs.“That probably sums up India’s bowling and day so far,” former England captain Nasser Hussain replied on commentary as Bethell tickled Prince Yadav’s length delivery towards fine leg for a boundary in the 28th over. “India will be very disappointed with their bowling today; they were very ordinary,” admitted Ravi Shastri not long after.The 192-run stand between Bethell and Duckett ticked off several records. It was England’s first ODI stand since 2023. It was England’s biggest stand against India in ODIs. At Lord’s, it was the first stand for the hosts since 2010. It was also the biggest first-wicket partnership at the iconic venue ever.Duckett registered milestones of his own before succumbing to Prince Yadav, scoring 141 off 135 balls. There is nothing bigger than overhauling Viv Richards’ record for the highest score at this venue (138) in the 1979 World Cup final.England amassed 387/3 on the board – the highest ODI score at Lord’s since the first ever World Cup in 1975 – on a day made famous by Sunil Gavaskar’s 174-ball 36 in a 335-run chase.Unlike Gavaskar, Root, another legend of the game, opted for a brisk performance and scored an unbeaten 48-ball 74. Sixth straight ODI fifteen for Root, who India failed to dismiss even once in the 50-over series. Root amassed 249 runs in three innings and India barely came close.The damage was done by the first-wicket partnership, heated up in the middle overs, and the result was all but sealed in the end. The over went for 58; the middle overs produced 203/1 and the last 10 overs scored 126 runs, including 62 runs in the last three.No wonder the pitchers were bleeding. Gurnoor Brar conceded 97, Prince another 79, Arshdeep went for 72 and even Prasidh, the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, conceded 69 runs – most of them coming in overs.On a surface that offered support to the seamen with disciplined bowling, as shown by Prasidh’s magic with the balls, India were erratic and paid for it. The men in blue fielded five bowlers in the front line and were desperately short of Bumrah while again opting to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. The wrist spinner has been involved in just eight ODIs out of the 15 the side has played since India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. His ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs has been crucial to India’s winning formula. Still, as India try to control the flow of runs and take a wicket during this over, he was not brought on. The 31-year-old took part in all three clean sessions at Edgbaston ahead of the first ODI and was also busy in optional practice ahead of the third series decider. When Sundar got injured, Kuldeep was seen as an ideal replacement. Unfortunately, it was not to be.“If you’re a side that can take wickets through the middle period of the game, it puts you in such a strong position when you get to the back of the game. Likewise with the bat, if you’re a strong enough side to be able to rotate and pick up boundaries here and there as a batting unit, it sets you up going into the last 10 overs, which can have a huge impact on the third match in England,” Harry Brook said.India, unfortunately for their ODI World Cup 2027 title hopes, have not batted consistently in these middle races. Against New Zealand in three ODIs, the middle overs saw: 163/5, 193/2 and 191/1. That scenario improved against Afghanistan and looked ominous again against England: 152/6, 146/4 and 203/1.India’s bowling effort without Bumrah looked uninspired and lackluster. The day out at Lord’s looked more like a case of Sunday cricket with the bowlers going into action without much thought. Most of the vans were full and were duly dispatched for 105 runs. At the other end of the surface, the Indian seamers bowled 38 short balls and were bowled out for 87 runs at an economy rate of 13.73. When the bowlers took the right line, they conceded 58 runs in 77 balls.In the end, the 388-run target proved to be a bridge too far. It was the result of more than just one bad trip. Bumrah’s absence has exposed a lack of bite in the pace, but perhaps the bigger problem remains India’s inability to take control through the middle overs.

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Share an opinionWhile England’s batsmen executed their plans with clarity, India were left scrambling for answers, insisting on combinations that repeatedly failed to stem the flow of runs. With 15 months to go until the 2027 ODI World Cup, these recurring issues become less about experimentation and more about missed opportunities to settle on a bowling formula that can consistently take wickets, apply pressure and win matches.