Jasprit Bumrah must never be written off. Period.

Cricket has, over the years, been a game of glorious uncertainties. An over there, and over here, and the complexion of the match changes forever. In recent times, with the advent of T20 cricket, this adage has increasingly defined whatever happens in our sport. Not because almost anything and everything is possible these days, but also because no one really knows what aspects qualify as constants.

Cricket is also decided by fine margins and in a format such as T20 cricket, even a small indiscretion or a tiny bit of magic can tilt the scales their team’s way. So, players who are capable of minimising these slight indiscretions and are capable of producing moments of magic are in high demand.

Jasprit Bumrah, long regarded as one of the best white-ball bowlers to have ever emerged from India, easily falls under that bracket. On his day, he can tear any opposition batting unit to shreds and the best part about him is that those days happen often enough, meaning that there aren’t many significant lulls.

But as all great players would testify, Bumrah is also prone to the odd bouts of inconsistency. Not because there is a glaring weakness in his skill-set, but because, well, he is human.

The 2022 iteration of the IPL, which saw him garner only 5 wickets in 10 games prior to the Mumbai Indians’ encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders, was perhaps his toughest examination, considering MI have largely not imposed themselves.

At the start of the season, though, many felt that a lack of wicket-taking thrust elsewhere was to blame – rather than Bumrah huffing and puffing. As the minutes ticked by, several started opining that the pacer was the one who was struggling. Aakash Chopra even hinted that Bumrah’s lack of wickets was similar to Virat Kohli not scoring runs.

To an extent, the fast bowler might have felt the pinch too. For someone who has achieved so much already in his brief career, there have been plenty of occasions when he has been written off. Post the ICC World Test Championship final, where Bumrah returned wicket-less, there were clamours for him to be dropped for the series against England altogether.

He was, at that stage, one of the major reasons why India had made the final in the first place. But some thought it was prudent enough to dig up his numbers pre-injury and post-injury to highlight his lack of potency. He ended that series as the second-highest wicket-taker overall and the leading wicket-taker for India. So much for a slump, eh?

Before this IPL too, there were murmurs that Bumrah hadn’t been playing enough T20 cricket. And when he was carted all round the park across 10 games, it felt there was some sense to that argument. Elsewhere, Mohammed Shami, T Natarajan and Umran Malik set pulses racing, meaning that the pressure was firmly on Bumrah.

Most bowlers, under similar circumstances, would’ve felt the pinch and would’ve gotten desperate. Bumrah, though, isn’t any other bowler. There is a reason he is special. There is a reason why he demands a longer rope than most of his contemporaries. And of course, there is a reason why he, despite being in situations where nothing is seemingly going right for him, keeps finding ways to emerge unscathed.

To see list of IPL winner, click here.

Jasprit Bumrah produced the best bowling figures of IPL 2022 against KKR

Against KKR, the fast bowler was at his best. He didn’t open the bowling for MI, leading to many moans and groans around the country. That debate, though, is for another day. On Monday, it was all about how Bumrah, irrespective of when he was called into action, delivered and metaphorically laughed at those who had questioned if he was still as penetrative as he once was.

On a pitch where the ball was taking turns to stick and skid through, Bumrah delivered an exhibition. He kept badgering away on a back of a length and forced the batters to make decisions they would ordinarily not have wanted to make.

His first victim was Andre Russell, who was a tad late on the pull stroke. The West Indian could only splice it towards long on, where Kieron Pollard did the rest. In that very over, he also produced an absolute snorter to tie Nitish Rana in knots. The batter could only hopelessly feather it through to the keeper as the ball, almost like fire, came onto him a lot quicker than expected.

A couple of overs later, he struck thrice, removing Pat Cummins, Sheldon Jackson and Sunil Narine. That over, by the way, was also a triple-wicket maiden. In the 18th over of a T20 game where a team is looking to breach the 200-run mark. The 20th over also saw the pacer only concede a solitary run, meaning that he only conceded one run off the final 12 balls that he bowled. Not bad for someone who was considered to be woefully out of form, is it?

From an immediate IPL perspective, Bumrah being back among the wickets might not be very significant. Post another shattering defeat, they don’t have much to play for. But in six months’ time, almost all of India will be waiting with bated breath to see how the fast bowler is faring.

On the big stage, Bumrah will don the Indian blue and like he has done for the past couple of years, he will shoulder the Indian cricket team’s bowling burden. It might be a tournament where their batters hog the limelight and if all goes to plan, Rohit Sharma etches himself into the history books alongside MS Dhoni. But it will remain an event where everything will hinge on how Bumrah performs.

Maybe that is why he faces criticism at the drop of the hat. Not because he has prolonged barren patches, but because there is just so much expectation. In that regard, his greatness is probably his biggest enemy and staunchest critic.

The good thing, though, is that he doesn’t give a toss about it. He knows what he can do. He understands what he needs to do from time to time to keep evolving. And, most importantly, he is capable of transforming troughs into crests in the blink of an eye. Not many, if any Indian fast bowlers, can lay claim to such a unique skill-set.

Cricket, too, remains a game of glorious uncertainties – a sport where literally anything and everything can happen. Bumrah, however, might just be a constant – a constant who continues silencing his doubters just when their decibel levels increase.

This isn’t happening for the first time. And you can be pretty sure it isn’t the last of such renditions. More words and more verbose pieces of literature can be crafted to explain Bumrah’s greatness. But for a bowler who lets the ball do the talking, maybe these will be enough.

Jasprit Bumrah must never be written off. Period.