Jasprit Bumrah may have had a disappointing start to his journey this season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but fellow quick Trent Boult is backing the Mumbai Indians (MI) lead pacer to bounceback with a strong performance in the next match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi this Wednesday (September 23).
Coming back after a lengthy lay-off, Bumrah struggled for control and consistency in MI's defeat in the IPL 2020 opener versus Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last Saturday, conceding 1/43 off four overs in his team's five-wicket loss.
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Against KKR, however, Boult expects Bumrah to be at his best.
"He (Bumrah) is a world class bowler, he is trying very hard over the last couple of days to find rhythm. I am 100 percent sure he will be on the mark in the coming games," the left-arm fast bowler from New Zealand was quoted as saying by the PTI.
"He is a big player for us and a very important bowler and I am sure he will bounce back very nicely."
Boult and Bumrah posing two very unique challenge for opposition batsmen, their pairing with the ball is key to MI's campaign this year.
"Yes, the opportunity to bowl with Bumrah and the other guys in the bowling attack is very exciting and a good opportunity to learn," said Boult.
"And yes Bumrah is a guy, who is very experienced and he has got some amazing skills and I'm really looking forward to hopefully having some success with him."
While the team went down in the previous match, Boult was personally pleased with his performance, giving away just 23 runs and taking a wicket in his spell after an extended break amid COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think from my point of view personally, coming off from a big winter in New Zealand with lockdowns and isolations, I haven't played cricket in probably six months, so I was pretty happy with the way I came out. Conditions are a lot different to what I face back home, with the heat and humidity here."
"But we were a couple of (few) runs short in terms of our total to defend. We need to tighten up a couple of small areas with accuracy and execution and that's what we will look to do in the next couple of games."
An area of Boult's T20 bowling that he knows he needs to tighten up is in the slog-overs.
"It is the biggest challenge in the game to be honest. It is very difficult to come in and bowl the last couple of overs against batsmen who are set. (Faf) Du Plessis was set the other night (against CSK) on 50 or 60 runs and when guys are hitting from that platform, it is very hard to defend," he said.
"But personally I want to try and stick to my strength, try and execute yorkers and take pace off it and just try and be ahead of the batsmen," he added.
