Jasprit Bumrah has had underwhelming returns in IPL 2022. Pic: IPLT20.COM
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has equated Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jasprit Bumrah‘s lack of wickets to Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Virat Kohli‘s struggles for runs. Both Bumrah and Kohli, two of the biggest names in Indian cricket, have had an underwhelming IPL 2022.
Bumrah, 28, has claimed only five wickets in nine matches at an average of 51.20 and an economy rate of 7.46. Mumbai will be hoping the pacer can lift his game when they take on the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, 6 May.
Analyzing the fast bowler’s performance, Chopra lamented that there have been too many games in which Bumrah has gone wicketless. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said:
“Bumrah going wicketless game after game is not looking good. That needs to change. Critics may say that he is under greater pressure because others are not bowling well, but he is going for runs as well. In the last match, he was economical. But Bumrah not taking wickets is like Kohli not scoring runs. Feels sad.”
Bumrah registered figures of 0 for 27 in four overs in MI’s five-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their previous match.
The 44-year-old, however, admitted that with Riley Meredith’s inclusion, Mumbai’s bowling is looking a little more robust. He stated:
“Riley Meredith has done well ever since he has come in. Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya worked in the previous game but Mumbai might have to make some changes here. They could go for Jaydev Unadkat as there might not be a lot of spin on offer at Brabourne.”
Meredith had impressive figures of two for 24 against RR, claiming the wickets of Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“MI should have given him more chances at the start” – Chopra on Tim David’s delayed return to playing XI
The match against Rajasthan also marked big-hitting batter Tim David’s comeback to Mumbai’s playing XI. It was an impressive return as he scored an unbeaten 20 off nine balls and took the team past the winning line.
Reflecting on David’s innings, Chopra opined that the franchise erred by dropping him after a couple of failures at the start of the tournament. He said:
“With his knock, Tim David proved that MI gave up on him too early. He was purchased for ₹8.25 crore but was dropped from the team after only a couple of failures. That was a little disappointing as he has the ability. MI should have given him more chances at the start of the tournament.”
Chasing 159 against RR, Suryakumar Yadav contributed 51 and Tilak Varma 35. Following their dismissals, David came in and took the team home, striking two fours and a six.
