What the non-debate over whether India are a better Test team without Jasprit Bumrah – the cricket equivalent of saying the Earth is flat – reveals is the extent of data illiteracy among those in the media. Numbers bandied about without an iota of context are just figures. When people start talking these random numbers seriously, then you have a problem.
Let’s examine the most-exposed ‘statistic’ of all – that India have lost more matches (23) than they have won (20) with Bumrah in the side. It was this little nugget that astonished David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and spawned hundreds of headlines. Yes, those figures will certainly raise eyebrows, at least until you look beneath the hood.
India have played 74 Tests since Bumrah made his debut at Newlands in January 2018. He has been part of just 47. And of those 74 Tests, only 30 have been played in India (22 wins). With the rest of the cricket world now dependent on the Indian team to fill their coffers, India play far more away than at home.
Let’s examine Bumrah’s own career. Only 12 matches – just over a fourth – have been on home soil. He has played 33 of his Tests in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia). Of those, India have won 10 and lost 19. A grim statistic, right? Perhaps, until you see the bigger picture.
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Before Bumrah came along, India had played 141 Tests in SENA nations. They had won a paltry 18. In the 10 victories that Bumrah has been part of in these countries, he has taken 63 wickets at 15.46 and a strike-rate of 35.16. Most couldn’t manage such stellar numbers against junior-school opponents.
And the 19 defeats. In the 44 away Tests that India have played since his debut, the batting has folded for 200 or less in a completed innings on 26 occasions. That includes the 36 all out in Adelaide (2020) and the 78 all out at Headingley (2021), among others. When your star batters have failed on such a colossal scale, you’re pointing fingers at the bowlers? His name is Bumrah, not Mandrake the Magician.
The Gabba in January 2021 and Edgbaston earlier this month – two of Indian cricket’s epochal wins – are now being cited as evidence that Bumrah isn’t needed. Yes, the other bowlers excelled in both those games, but ultimately the Gabba fortress was breached by sparkling knocks from Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, while Gill alone tallied over 400 at Edgbaston.
It would certainly suit England if Bumrah were to sit out Old Trafford, a venue where the ball can often hoop around corners. It defies belief, however, that there are Indians who buy into that narrative. The numbers stare you in the face when it comes to Bumrah. You just need to know which ones to look at.
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