Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Monday (May 9) silenced his critics as he picked a five-wicket haul against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the DY Patil Stadium.
Before this game, Bumrah was under the scanner as he had claimed only five wickets from 10 matches in the IPL 2022 season.
However, he bounced back brilliantly, returning with the figures of 5 for 10 in his four overs against the Knight Riders.
Speaking after the game, Bumrah said he is happy with his rhythm in the ongoing season and the “noise outside” doesn’t affect him personally.
“Look we prepare for the tournament and we have our process, we don’t look at the end result,” Bumrah said at the post-match press conference after MI lost to KKR by 52 runs.
“If you understand the game, you have to really observe what’s going on, what is the game like, what situation you are bowling like, and for me personally I was very happy with the rhythm going on throughout the tournament,” he added.
“I know there is a lot of noise outside that goes on but it doesn’t really affect me. Because I am not a person who judges my performance on what others think or what the experts are saying or whatever people want to say,” he further said.
Bumrah hasn’t been able to take wickets consistently this season but the pacer said the way he contributes to the team is more important for him.
“I look at my personal evaluation is very important, I look at the processes that I have to follow and I look at the end result on how I can contribute to the team, by sometimes bowling a good over and however I can help the team.
“So this is how I play cricket and this is how I always wanted to play cricket and that is how I will do (play) going further as well.”
Thanks to Bumrah’s stunning spell, MI restricted KKR to 165/9 but the five-time champions faltered with the bat, getting bowled out for a paltry 113 in 17.3 overs.
It was Mumbai’s 9th defeat in 11 games this season and the Rohit Sharma-led side is already out of the playoffs race.
“You said it right, we didn’t manage to close games, in a lot of games, we came very close and we crumbled in crucial scenarios. This is a new team and our youngsters are understanding and making their game better,” said Bumrah.
“This is not an excuse that you lost because of it. But when new youngsters come they take time to understand their game. We are searching for a complete performance and we are trying and working hard, but it hasn’t worked this time,” he added.
Jasprit Bumrah said MI will look to put up a good show in the remaining three matches.
“In the remaining games, our focus is to give an ideal performance where everything clicks and how we can come in the best case scenario,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
