With two wickets in the edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is looking a shadow of his former self. With a total of 185 wickets in his IPL career, Bumrah has been an IPL great and the two-time T20 World Cup winner has been having a loss of form this IPL. Mumbai Indians suffered their sixth loss of the IPL in the form of a six-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this week and Bumrah conceded 54 runs in his four overs and failed to take a wicket during his spell. Former Indian World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth has urged Bumrah to take a leaf out of Rajasthan Royals’ pacer Jofra Archer’s book and try to bowl at ‘full throttle’ rather than bowling slower ones.
“Even (Jasprit) Bumrah bowled too many slower ones. You have the new ball with you and two left-handers in front of you. Try to nick them off. Bumrah bowling so many slower deliveries with the new ball is of no use. See what Archer is trying to do in the last few matches. He’s bowling at full throttle and nicking batters off caught behind and at slips. That’s what Bumrah should try to do,” Srikkanth said on his Youtube channel.
In the last IPL, where Mumbai Indians finished fourth in the points table and reached the play-offs before losing against Punjab kings in the Qualifier 2, Bumrah had claimed 18 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 17.56 and at an economy of 6.68. This season has seen Bumrah failing to get a wicket in the first five matches of Mumbai Indians with the 32-year-old pacer picking up his first wicket in this IPL during Mumbai Indians’ 99-run win over Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad. Mumbai Indians have lost their last two matches post that match. In the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium, Bunch gave away 54 runs in his four overs with the team suffering a six-wicket loss. Srikkanth shared how Bumrah’s lack of form might be due to him being tired. “Bumrah is not getting that zip at all. Not one delivery looked threatening. Maybe he is tired, so I am not blaming him. But he is clearly not at his best. He is trying hard but looking very ordinary,” Srikkanth added.
Post Mumbai Indians’ loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard had spoken about how he sees Bumrah bouncing back from his dismal form. “We are unfortunate, you know, to always be in the public eye. So when we do bad, it’s always being highlighted. But when normal people have jobs and they send the wrong email, they have the opportunity to edit the words and all these things. We don’t have the opportunity. So it’s fair and fine when you’re not doing well, you accept certain things. And knowing the individual, I know he’s going to bounce back with greater heights and take wickets,” Pollard had told the media after the team’s loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
