- Bumrah’s 102.5 in IPL 2026 is among the highest bowling averages in T20 tournament history.
- The pacer has picked up four wickets in 13 matches this season.
- We look at the three highest bowling averages in T20 tournament history.
IPL 2026 was an unusual one for multiple reasons. For one, it was only the fourth time in 19 seasons that neither CSK nor MI made the knockouts. Punjab Kings failed to make the playoffs without losing any of their first seven matches.
Strangest of them all though, was Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian pacer only picked up four wickets in 13 matches this season, his lowest such tally since 2015 when he only played four games.
That wicket tally also meant that Bumrah also had one of the highest bowling averages in a T20 tournament. In this article, we look at the list of highest bowling averages in T20 tournaments.
3 highest bowling averages in T20 tournaments
That T20s have become batter-friendly over the years is not lost on any follower of the game. However, at times, the numbers seem to shock you nonetheless. Today, we look at the three bowlers with the most expensive T20 tournaments by bowling average.
For the sake of this article, we’re only considering bowlers that have bowled more than 40 overs in a series or tournament.
Prasidh Krishna – 94.3 (IPL 2019)
Today, one may remember Prasidh Krishna as the bowler that won the Purple Cap at IPL 2025, picking up 25 wickets. But he too has had his bad seasons. In 2019, Krishna would only pick up four wickets in his 11 IPL matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
As a result, his bowling average would shoot up to 94.3. He picked up just four wickets, accounting for one dismissal every 10 overs or so. Krishna’s economy rate of 9.34 that year was also his third highest in a single IPL season. In fact, Krishna only picked up his first wicket of the season in his fifth game, with his tournament average being as high as 182 at the time.
Pragyan Ojha – 95 (IPL 2014)
Pragyan Ojha’s 2014 IPL was so difficult that he would only play one more game in the competition after. He too picked up four wickets for Mumbai Indians that campaign. Ojha, in fact, went wicketless in nine out of the 12 matches that he played, his most in a single campaign.
Ojha’s economy rate in the IPL that year was 8.26. This was the only season in which the slow left-arm spinner bowled at over 8 an over while playing more than one match. He also conceded 380 runs in 2014. Only in 2013 (381) did he concede more runs in a single season.
Jasprit Bumrah – 102.5 (IPL 2026)
A bowler has bowled more than 40 overs in a T20 tournament 1579 times. Only once has a bowler averaged over 100 in any of them. That one time, oddly enough, was Jasprit Bumrah in the 2026 IPL.
Bumrah has only looked a shadow of himself in the current IPL season. MI batting coach Kieron Pollard confirmed that the bowler came into the campaign not entirely fit, and it showed.
The India pacer has conceded 410 runs at a bowling average of 102.5 runs per wicket. In fact, the 8.4 runs per over at which he conceded those runs is highest in any campaign where he has played at least five games.
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