Already a match-winner for Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah isn’t entirely a happy man when it comes to his role in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. The seasoned seamer has emerged as the wrecker-in-chief for his franchise, picking up wickets at regular intervals, but he wants more responsibilities on his shoulders. After emerging as the player of the match for his franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Punjab Kings on Thursday, Bumrah made it clear to the skipper Hardik Pandya the role he wants to play.
Burmah’s figures of 3 for 21 in 4 overs proved to be the difference as Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by 9 runs. After the game, however, Bumrah said that he wants to be bowling in the powerplay early on when the ball is offering some swing. This season, his role, however, has been quite different.
“Much closer game than what we thought. Want to make an impact early on. In this format, the ball swings for two overs, and you want to make use of that. This format is a little difficult for the bowlers because the batsmanship is going over, plus the time restrictions and the Impact Player rule. What you can do is prepare your best and back yourself. Go out there and give your best. I try to relay messages from wherever I am on the field. You don’t want to give too many messages,” Bumrah said in the post-match presentation.
For Mumbai Indians, the likes of Haridk Pandya, Gerald Coetzee and Akash Madhwal have been used more in the powerplays, in comparison to Bumrah. Against Punjab, Bumrah bowled the 2nd and the 4th over, and ended up claiming 2 wickets. The pacer wants more such roles to be given to him by captain Hardik.
Recapping the match, Punjab Kings sent Mumbai Indians to bat first. Following that a fiery knock from Suryakumar (78) propeled MI to 192/7. Apart rom SKY, Rohit Sharma (36) and Tilak Varma (34) played a pivotal role in the inning and helped MI to add valuable runs on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, Harshal Patel led the Punjab Kings bowling attack after he bagged three wickets. Skipper Sam Curran took two wickets on the other hand.
During the run chase, Ashutosh (61) and Shashank Singh (41) were the standout batters for the hosts and tried to take Punjab closer to the target. However, Gerald Coetzee and Jasprit Bumrah’s three wicket haul helped MI to successfuly defend their target.
Bumrah was named the ‘Player of the Match’ after he picked up three wickets and gave 21 runs in his four-over spell.
