India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has picked up only three wickets at an economy of 8.36 across three matches in the 2025 Asia Cup, but the team management remains pleased with his efforts. According to them, Bumrah has been assigned an “exceptionally tough job” in UAE conditions.
Bumrah’s Role in Powerplay and Death Overs
Bumrah has consistently bowled three overs during the powerplay and one at the death in every game, a role rarely given to T20 bowlers. The last time he bowled three powerplay overs in a T20I before this tournament was back in 2019.
“He’s doing a very tough task,” assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate explained. “You don’t often see bowlers operating with three overs upfront in this format. It’s strenuous, but we believe it’s the right workload ahead of the Test series and this competition’s importance.”
Despite going wicketless and conceding 45 runs in the Super Four clash against Pakistan, the team insists Bumrah’s role remains vital.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔,” 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏-𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉.”
Samson’s Adjustment to the Middle Order
While Bumrah handles the toughest overs, Sanju Samson is still adapting to batting at No. 5, a position different from his usual top-order role.
Samson scored a solid 56 off 45 against Oman but struggled with 13 off 17 against Pakistan.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆. “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝑨𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒌 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑵𝒐. 5. 𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒃.”
Focus on Winning, Not Experimenting
The packed Asia Cup format has left little room for experimenting with bench players such as Jitesh Sharma and Rinku Singh. The management has stressed that bilateral series will provide more opportunities for rotation.
“Our principle is simple — respect everyone, fear no one,” ten Doeschate said. “We weren’t fully satisfied with our game against Pakistan and know we must be sharper. Bangladesh is on the rise, and we’re ready for the challenge.”
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