Ever since the Indian Premier League’s 2023 edition, Mukesh Kumar has evolved from being a fringe player into having earned a rare distinction of making his international debut across all three formats in the same series. Besides, the pacer has been unveiled in a new avatar – that of a death over specialist – by the Delhi Capitals.
The manner in which Mukesh – who relies on seam bowling as his key arsenal, at least in red-ball cricket – is being used in a new role may have surprised a few but the pacer himself was ready for the role.
“I was told last season to be prepared for death bowling, so I was preparing accordingly,” says a soft-spoken Mukesh during a round-table chat organised by the franchise.
In an endeavour to enhance his skills, he turned towards Ishant Sharma – his sounding board at the Delhi Capitals – whose rich experience has helped him develop the “slower ball, knuckle ball and wide yorkers”.
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It reflected in the manner in which he stuck to his plan of bowling slower balls or low full-tosses to defend 18 runs in the last over and help the Capitals edge past Gujarat Titans on Wednesday night.
Jasprit Bumrah helped Mukesh understand the effective usage of the yorker. “I was focusing on yorkers last season but Jassi (Jasprit) bhai made me realise that a yorker’s effectiveness depends on the conditions and the pace of the pitch. If the pitch is slightly slower, an attempted yorker may end up landing in the slot, so I am focusing more on slower ball this season.”
Yorkers never go out of fashion in T20 cricket, but each Indian Premier League season has a flavour of the season when it comes to containing range-hitters. “Wide yorkers are trending this season but you cannot overdo it up front and waste the new ball. You have to try for wickets up front so that’s the risk you take, by bowling in line and risking the batters going after. But it also depends on the conditions as well,” Mukesh says.
