Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond has revealed that star pacer Jasprit Bumrah took the new ball and backed his yorkers with renewed vigour against Rajasthan Royals as he was a bit disappointed with his IPL performances so far.
Bumrah, who was having a rather ordinary tournament, was back to his destructive best, claiming a four-wicket haul as his side inflicted a 57-run defeat on Rajasthan on Tuesday.
It was the first time the 26-year-old was handed the new ball in the tournament and Bumrah didn’t disappoint, returning the impressive figures of 4/20, including the prized scalp of Steve Smith.
“Jasprit genuinely wanted to take the new ball so there was a discussion that went on one day before the game against Royals, we obviously have used him in a defensive manner at the back-end of the PowerPlay,” said Bond during the post-match press conference.
“It was a fresh wicket and there was grass on it, he has the ability to nip the ball around, we knew Rajasthan’s key players were in the top-order so we wanted to give him an opportunity to get out there, take the new ball and take some wickets for us,” he added.
Bond said the Indian pace spearhead was unhappy with his performances in the tournament and wanted to make the kind of impact that is expected from a bowler of his calibre. “Jasprit really wanted to back his yorkers against Royals, he wanted to go back to his strengths and use his bouncer as he normally does,” the New Zealander said.
“That’s his strength, if he is not happy with his performances, he tends to bounce back to a new level. I know, traditionally through IPL, Bumrah tends to get better and better,” he added.
