Fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah was on fire with the ball in the 20th game of the ongoing IPL 2020 between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi, as his destructive spell helped the defending champions beat RR by 57 runs on Tuesday (6 October).
The 26-year-old was handed the new ball for the first time in the T20 league and he made the most of this task by claiming a four-wicket haul 4/20 in his quota of four over to play a key role in Mumbai’s thrilling win over the Royals in Abu Dhabi.
After the victory, MI’s bowling coach Shane Bond has revealed that Bumrah wanted to take the new ball and back his yorkers with a renewed vigor to make a great impact against the RR as he was a bit disappointed with his performances in the ongoing IPL 2020.
Bond said at the post-match press conference: “Jasprit genuinely wanted to take the new ball so there was a discussion that went on one day before the game against Royals, we obviously have used him in a defensive manner at the back-end of the powerplay.”
He further added, “It was a fresh wicket and there was grass on it, he has the ability to nip the ball around, we knew Rajasthan's key players were in the top-order so we wanted to give him an opportunity to get out there, take the new ball and take some wickets for us.
Reda Also: IPL 2020: "Loving added responsibility at the top of the order" - Suryakumar Yadav
Jasprit really wanted to back his yorkers against Royals, he wanted to go back to his strengths and use his bouncer as he normally does. That's his strength, if he is not happy with his performances, he tends to bounce back to a new level. I know, traditionally through IPL, Bumrah tends to get better and better.”
Praising Suryakumar Yadav who scored a match-winning 79 off 47 balls against RR, the MI coach noted: “Yadav has been frustrated that he has been hitting the ball so well and he has been doing that since the start of the camp. He just was not kicking on, we saw his talent against the Rajasthan Royals, he is a sensational player, he scores all around the ground, and a key member of this group.”
Bond also opened up about the MI’s strategy employed to tackle RR stars Jos Buttler, Smith, and Sanju Samson, saying: “We do a lot of work behind the scenes so that we are ready for every opposition. Against the Royals, we knew how dangerous Jos Buttler can be. He got runs against us again, in the powerplay we were exceptional.”
He signed off by saying, “Against Smith, we tried to block that scoring zone in the leg-side and we forced him to play on the offside. Against Sanju, we wanted to use the short ball, we wanted him to play square off the wicket. Trent Boult did a fantastic job, we knew their top four were really dangerous.”
(With PTI Inputs)
