Australia cricketer Steve Smith was perplexed by Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya’s strategy during the 2024 Indian Premier League match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He feels that the Mumbai Indians did not use Jasprit Bumrah effectively, as they lost the match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
The Mumbai Indians bowlers had a nightmare outing as they conceded 277 runs in the first innings, the most in an IPL match. They eventually lost the match by 31 runs. Steve Smith spoke about Mumbai Indians’ bowling plans and expressed that they should have used Jasprit Bumrah better. The pacer bowled just one over until the 13th over of the innings. Steve Smith opined that they should have brought on Bumrah earlier. He said to Star Sports,
“I think they missed a trick in bringing Bumrah back in the 13th over. When the ball’s going around like that, you’ve just got to bring your best bowler back earlier than you would’ve liked. It’s just about adapting on the go. I would’ve bowled Bumrah out by the 15-16th over to try to get some wickets.”
Things could have been really different if Jasprit Bumrah bowled earlier: Steve Smith
Jasprit Bumrah was the most economical bowler for the Mumbai Indians. He did not get any wickets but conceded 36 runs in four overs. He bowled a few dot balls, helping Mumbai Indians to contain runs. Steve Smith feels Jasprit Bumrah would have helped to bring down the total to 250, had he bowled earlier. He said,
“Once you get some wickets, you slow the run-rate down anyway. If these guys are batting at the end, it doesn’t matter who is bowling. We saw that in the last two overs where he still got smacked. So if he had come back earlier and taken some risks, things could have been really different. They got 277, they could’ve been down to 250 and they might’ve chased those down. I was just perplexed that Bumrah had bowled just 1 over up until the 13th over.”
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