The weeks leading up to the previous T20 World Cup — in Australia in 2022 — were panic-inducing for India. Forget the concerns about their T20 batting approach lagging behind the other top teams or the seeming inability to shed their inhibition in recent knockout games. The trepidation had more to do with Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury resurfacing in the matches against Australia and South Africa leading up to the T20 World Cup.

Subsequently, he was ruled out of the marquee event and all other cricket for nearly the next 12 months. Much of the chatter when the Indian players landed in Australia as a result revolved around how they would cope with Bumrah’s absence in a format where bowlers are ripe for shredding. The semi-final in Adelaide was proof that India’s bowling attack couldn’t adequately paper over the cracks as England chased down 169 in 16 overs without losing a wicket.

Cut to now as India face Ireland in their opening T20 World Cup game in New York on Wednesday, and so little of the build-up has seemed to centre around Bumrah. Not for any reason other than a comforting degree of predictability existing about Bumrah’s brilliance. Since returning to action in a T20I series against Ireland in August last year, Bumrah has been routinely exceptional across formats that you can almost take the pacer turning up and delivering for granted.

Even in this year’s IPL, a season where T20 batting was redefined substantially with big scores and bigger sixes, Bumrah was a bowling cheat code all through — he was the only player in any of the ten franchises to finish the tournament with an economy below 6.5. He also got 20 wickets in 13 matches, outgunning batters even when they were taking minimal risk. It’s another matter that MI still found a way to mess up and finish bottom of the standings.

Such unwavering excellence can be boring, except that Bumrah repeatedly makes you marvel at his unique skillset with deliveries only he can unleash with regularity. The in-swinging toe-crusher that dismissed Prithvi Shaw — the opening batter did well to get his foot out of the way and avoid bruises — was one example in the just-concluded season. He can be just as unplayable, of course, when he decides to pitch the ball short and make the batters groove to his chin music.

Many things go into Bumrah being the bowler he is. The uniqueness of his bowling action, the hyperextension of his right arm and release point, closer to the batter than other bowlers, mean that the man standing at the other end can seldom premeditate or line him up. Adding to the complexity for the batter is Bumrah’s wide and varied repertoire — he has every conceivable delivery in his locker and, more importantly, knows exactly when to bring them out. Rounding it all off is a shrewd and ever-ticking brain that is always alert to the game situation.

“In this format, it is very harsh for the bowlers. I try to not be a one-trick pony, I have worked on this early in my career,” Bumrah said during the IPL. “People start to line you up. I want to have different skills. Bowling is tough, because you will have to take a beating. When things have not worked out for me, the next day I have seen the videos and analysed what did not work. Preparation is always the key. Important to keep pushing yourself before a game. You don’t always have to bowl a yorker, sometimes you bowl a yorker, sometimes a short ball. There is no ego in this format.”

Just as he did for Mumbai Indians in IPL, Bumrah may have to do the heavy lifting for India as the spearhead of a pace attack comprising Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj. Both Arshdeep and Siraj tend to blow hot and cold and are going into the T20 World Cup on the back of an IPL season they wouldn’t fondly remember. Only one of them is likely to feature in the eleven alongside Bumrah as India seem set to go in with two frontline pacers and three spinners.

The early indicators are that the conditions in the US and Caribbean will help spin. With India stationed in New York for the first three matches, the game between South Africa and Sri Lanka on Monday must have interested them. While South African pacer Anrich Nortje starred with figures of 4/7, there was plenty of assistance from the slow pitch for spinners on either side.

Of course, India’s star-studded batting unit, led by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, will be expected to impose its presence on the tournament. But as last year’s ODI World Cup showed, the bowlers often tend to be critical in stringing together a winning streak in big events. As that old cliché goes, batters may help win matches but bowlers win you tournaments.

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