‘Batsmen win you games, bowlers win you tournaments’ is a hackneyed adage perhaps summoned to offer some consolation to the thankless art of bowling in an era where the game is increasingly tilting in favour of the willow-wielders.
And yet, the truism accurately encapsulates India’s five-match unbeaten streak at the World Cup. While the batters have made mincemeat of middling totals, the undercurrent of India’s campaign has been the bowling attack’s ability to go about its business with unstated efficiency.
The fact that the Indian top-order has hunted down targets with disarming ease and plenty to spare further highlights the significance of the ensemble cast of bowlers restricting oppositions to under-par totals on the same pitches.
The task is accomplished with an unassuming skill and an incrementally increasing tempo that strangulates teams without letting them know. Having nabbed just five wickets in five matches in the first PowerPlay, it is safe to say the set-up in the first PowerPlay is subtle.
A dot-ball percentage of over 67 in the first 10 overs, however, has ensured that the lack of wickets upfront doesn’t allow the opposition to assert itself. The inimitable Jasprit Bumrah keeps the batters at their wits’ end with his slight movement in the air and off the pitch.
The exuberance of Mohammed Siraj often has him overpitching, but that also fetches him the odd wicket. India’s economy of 4.74 during this phase is also significant considering that the average run rate of teams that have won batting first is 5.63 in the first 10 overs, although sedate starts have been a recurrent theme after 22 matches in the tournament.
Buoyant force: Mohammed Siraj represents an unusually evolved bowling leader for his age. | Photo Credit: PTI
The middle overs are thought to be the bane of One-Day International cricket. With the sun beating down, the batters are sapped, and their depleted energies percolate through to the tempo of the game. Just as the opposition is coiling up to pounce, the Indian attack decides to strike.
It does so largely through dot-ball pressure, with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja rifling through the overs. India is only among two teams in the tournament, the other being South Africa, which has a dot-ball percentage of more than 50 during this phase. Its economy of under five runs an over is the best by a distance in this period of play that often proves decisive in the face of dwindling PowerPlay and death-over returns.
While Kuldeep’s career rejuvenation and wicket-taking ability have been pivotal to India’s success, the pace attack’s control early on has allowed the spinners to ease into their roles.
“It’s very important to start off very well with the first PowerPlay. Jasprit and Siraj have done really well. Not just giving us wickets, but probably just containing the runs as well (for) when me and Jaddu bhai come to bowl. We’ve always got one or two wickets; only today we felt that they got a very good start,” Kuldeep had said after the match against Bangladesh, the only instance where India failed to pick a wicket in the PowerPlay.
While R. Ashwin’s off-spin found a late look into India’s World Cup squad, it has been intriguing to witness the team host two left-arm spinners of varying classes to control the middle phase.
Firing from the get-go: Mohammed Shami, playing his first World Cup match this year, picked a five-wicket haul, against New Zealand in Dharamsala. | Photo Credit: K. R. Deepak
They have had contrasting objectives. While a rejuvenated Kuldeep has once again reclaimed his role as a wicket-taking machine, Jadeja has repositioned himself as the run-choker.
With the Kookaburra ball discolouring rapidly in the Indian conditions this World Cup, the spinners have also been vital before the seamers set in to utilise reverse swing at the death. Having found a new spring in his stride since his comeback to the ODI squad in February 2022, Kuldeep has only conceded more than six runs per over in just one innings while bowling his full quota of 10 overs, and the wrist-spinner has remained on top of the wicket-taking charts between overs 11-40 in 2023. Averaging just 18.66 in the phase, Kuldeep has picked 36 wickets from 18 innings at an economy of just 4.55. Since his return from a long injury layoff in early 2023, Jadeja, too, has improved his game on the wicket-taking front. While he continues to skim through his overs at a brisk pace, the 34-year-old has managed to prise out wickets with a strike rate of 39.3—among his best seasons across a 14-year career. Jadeja is the leading wicket-taker among left-arm finger spinners this year, with 20 scalps from 17 games.
What must also be lauded for the success of this rare spin duo is the backing from the support staff led by Rahul Dravid. The team management made a bold call to drop Yuzvendra Chahal from its World Cup equation, despite the leggie being among the leading wicket-takers for India in the format since 2020.
The minimal chopping and changing has also allowed Kuldeep and Jadeja to settle into their roles and quickly rebound from the rare off days in between.
Spin to win: Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have complemented each other well in the middle overs. | Photo Credit: PTI
Kuldeep is someone who requires a constant source of confidence through his spells. After being taken to the cleaners for seven wicketless overs that went for 61 runs against the Kiwis, Kuldeep tasted success only after Mohammed Shami broke a 159-run association for the third wicket. Siraj had played a similar role against Pakistan by castling Babar Azam with a cross-seam delivery to disrupt an ominous stand.
The spinners then joined the party, precipitating a collapse.
Just when Hardik Pandya’s injury during his first over against Bangladesh threatened to throw a spanner in the works, Shami, playing his first match of the World Cup, showcased why he would be the envy of any other attack in the world. His upright seam presentation with the new ball and deception in the latter half of the innings sent India’s bogey team, New Zealand, into a tailspin.
If teams are hoping to build towards a flourishing finish, they are likely to be stopped in their tracks by Bumrah’s nuclear-tipped yorkers and pace variations that have contributed to the team’s economy of 5.4 in the last 10 overs — the best in the tournament.
Ahead of the World Cup, India’s bowling flew under the radar even as the team was sweating over the form and fitness of its key batters. Over the last 12 months, India has boasted the best bowling average amongst all 22 teams to have played one-day cricket. The only missing piece was Bumrah, who seamlessly fit into the jigsaw and lent a cutting-edge.
It is perhaps ironic that the search for heft lower down the order in a settled batting unit has seen Shardul Thakur pip Shami to the XI. But Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj, who played their first ODI together against the Kiwis, showed that an all-weather world-class bowling trio may obviate the need for lower-order insurance.
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