In modern T20 cricket, the role of a fast bowler is being reshaped not in the nets, but in meeting rooms, video sessions and data dashboards. Increasingly, data analysts have taken over a chunk of what used to fall squarely under a bowling coach’s domain. Be it match-ups, variations, patterns and predictive planning, everything is being closely monitored and heavily discussed before and after each game.

In an exclusive interaction with , Kolkata Knight Riders pacer and 2024 winning-team member Vaibhav Arora explained the subtle difference. He spoke about this shift with a mix of acceptance and quiet curiosity. For him, numbers may guide the conversation, but they can never capture the work a bowler does when no one is watching. It’s here, between the spreadsheets and the unseen hours of training, that Arora believes a fast bowler can still stay one step ahead.

“Every year the data they have is of the previous season. They don’t know what new work you’ve done in the off-season, what changes you’re bringing this year. After two or three matches they might pick it up, but initially, they don’t know. As a bowler or batter, you must grow every year. You think: “Last year this worked, so what new can I add?” If I bowled well last year, maybe this year I add more slower balls, or more cutters. That’s how planning works. Otherwise, if they read you completely, the opposition stays one step ahead and it becomes tough,” Vaibhav told .

Planning in real time

Arora, now an integral part of KKR’s pace group, has learned that unpredictability isn’t about tricks, it’s about evolution. In a high-pressure environment like the IPL, planning can feel like a fragile concept. But Arora credits a collaborative approach for his development as a death-overs option.

“Last time the captain was very good with planning. We practiced together a lot. So whatever planning happened—specific plans for certain batters—we had already discussed and practiced them in the nets. Those plans go with you onto the field. If something doesn’t work, then in that moment we decide together—me and the captain—what might work better. He suggests what I can try, I tell him what I’m confident about. So we work together,” he added.

Damage control as a skill

There is a strange kind of heroism in bowling at the death, one that rarely earns applause. Most of the time, it isn’t about producing the perfect yorker or dismantling a batter’s stumps. It’s about survival, calculation and a calm acceptance that even your best ball may still travel for four. In this phase, the bowler’s job becomes less about domination and more about prevention, shaving off crucial runs in a format where margins are microscopic.

“Mindset is to control the game as much as possible. If 60–70 runs in the last five overs is normal, how do we make it 55–60? How do we save 5–10 runs for the team? Runs will be scored anyway. If one over goes for 20, how do I bring it down to 15? That’s the mindset: reduce runs as much as possible,” Vaibhav said.

The fragility of swing

For swing bowlers like Arora, the first few overs of a T20 innings are a fleeting window, a small, delicate slice of time where skill can briefly outweigh power. But that window is shrinking every season. The batters who charge down the track without hesitation have made the craft even more vulnerable. In many ways, swing bowling in T20 cricket has become a high-risk, high-reward gamble that lasts only for a handful of deliveries. Bowlers can no longer rely on shaping the ball for an entire spell; they must shift plans almost instantly once the ball stops talking.

“Very tough, because the margin is very small. New ball swings for one or two overs, maximum three. After that it doesn’t swing. Then you need another plan since any over-pitched ball becomes easy to hit. You might have seen last year many bowlers bowled more cross-seam deliveries with the new ball because swing wasn’t much,” Vaibhav said.

The Starc effect

Mitchell Starc’s presence in any dressing room is more than just a world-class fast bowler joining the squad but it’s an entire philosophy of fast bowling walking through the door. Starc is the rare pacer whose reputation isn’t built only on skill, but on consistency, preparation and an almost monk-like relationship with his routines. Younger bowlers often describe him as intimidating until they see how open, disciplined and methodical he is.

For Arora, sharing space with someone who has mastered every white-ball arena, World Cups, Ashes, IPL, was an education that went far beyond the technical.

“As a human being, his discipline and hard work. After achieving so much, he still trains the hardest, does his gym properly, practices properly. That inspired me—if he works so hard, I must too,” the 28-year-old said.