Jasprit Bumrah is one of the most lethal bowlers at the backend of a T20 innings but the veteran pacer spoke about his fondness for bowling with the new ball and exploiting whatever swing there is on offer for the first couple of overs.
Bowling at the death is a crucial aspect in the shortest format of the game. The ability to pick wickets with the new ball takes a backseat in T20s. However, there are some bowlers who can peg oppositions back substantially with the new ball and Bumrah is one of them. The 30-year-old shared the new ball with Gerald Coetzee in Mumbai Indians' encounter against Punjab Kings on Thursday, April 18 in Mullanpur and dismissed Sam Curran and Rilee Rossouw in his first over. Bumrah came back later in the innings to take the important wicket of Shashank Singh and eventually finished with incredible figures of 3/21 in four overs.
Also Read: 'IPL tests you' - Hardik Pandya takes sly dig at public criticism during toss against PBKS
After his Player of the Match award-winning performance, Bumrah said that he likes to bowl with the new ball in T20 cricket and make use of the swing that can be on offer, at least for the first two overs.
"Of course, you want to make an impact early on when the ball does something. Because in this format, probably the ball does swing for the first two overs. And when I want to bowl more, I do play Test cricket. That is where all my desires for bowling more gets over. In this format, when the ball swings for the first two overs, you do want to make an impact and when the opportunity comes, I'm happy to contribute," Bumrah was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Bumrah has a mind-boggling economy rate of just 5.96 so far in IPL 2024. His three-wicket haul against Punjab took him to 13 wickets for the season from seven games. After the match, Bumrah was handed the Purple Cap.
Also Read: IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya fined INR 12 lakh for slow over rate against Punjab Kings
Earlier in the day, Mumbai scored 192/7 after being invited to bat first by stand-in Punjab captain Sam Curran. Suryakumar Yadav led the way with an exhilarating 78 off 53 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes. In reply, Ashutosh Sharma (61 off 28 balls) and Shashank (41 off 25 balls) tried hard but after losing four wickets inside the third over, Punjab were always staring down the barrel. Eventually, they lost by nine runs after being bowled out for 183.
from Cricket News: Today's Top news and headlines from cricket world | CricTracker.com https://ift.tt/XWvyu8Q