Chennai – A year on from an uncomfortable introduction to the IPL, Jamie Overton is quietly becoming one of Chennai Super Kings’ most reliable middle-overs bowlers. The English all-rounder has sent down 18 of his 28 overs this season between the seventh and 16th, claiming ten wickets at 7.61 an over. Only Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad have struck more often in that period.
Last season was different. In a lopsided 2025 campaign CSK pushed Overton into the powerplay – a job his twin, Craig, usually fills for Somerset – and he never settled. Three matches, very few overs, confidence dented.
“Obviously, last year didn’t go too well for me,” he said after Sunday’s victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai. “Bowling in a phase that I’ve not necessarily bowled in, it’s not one I’ve done a massive amount of. So, that was a learning experience for me.”
This time head coach Stephen Fleming and bowling mentor Eric Simons have simplified the brief. Hit the top of off, mix in an occasional bouncer or slower ball, and leave the six-over surge to others. Overton’s result sheet suggests the clarity is working; against Lucknow he removed Josh Inglis and Rishabh Pant in the same over, checking a chase that had threatened to race away.
“For me, it’s just to do the simple things really well and hit the top of the stumps with the odd short ball and the odd slow ball and keeping it as simple as I can,” he explained. “Done a lot of work with Eric, trying to focus on my lines and mainly the lines.”
Speed still matters – the 29-year-old has been clocked at 150 kph – yet he admits Indian pitches blunt raw pace unless backed by control.
“Pace can be good and it can also be bad at the same time,” he noted. “If you don’t get it right, it does go a long way. And batters aren’t scared of pace anymore. The wickets are so good now, they’re so true, and batters are just playing some good shots and they’re a bit more used to it. But you’ve still got to have the control.”
Preparation for this edition began during England’s T20 World Cup campaign. Overton and the analysts highlighted how Indian batters thrive behind square on the off side, forcing overseas quicks to pitch a touch fuller and straighter.
“A lot of planning goes on to where I want to execute and where I want to bowl the ball,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got to bowl a bit fuller.”
Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta, speaking on television, called Overton “a little under-rated”, while analyst Matt Roller pointed to the bowler’s gradual shift from hit-the-deck enforcer to high-pace, high-accuracy operator.
Away from the numbers, Overton is enjoying the attention of a home crowd that routinely chants his name. That is a novelty for someone used to county cricket’s more subdued ambience.
“No [fans don’t chant my name in England]. Not quite like it,” he laughed. “The fact the fans have got behind me and feeling the love off them, it’s amazing.”
He credits CSK’s dressing room for the turnaround – a group that, by reputation, seldom panics and rarely meddles with established roles. Such stability, he says, freed him to rediscover the approach that worked for Surrey and in The Hundred.
Overton still wants to improve at the death, an area Simons and video footage occupy in practice sessions. For the time being, though, CSK seem content; their middle overs have a dependable, if understated, guardian.
With the play-offs looming, that may prove decisive.
