Brett Lee Backs Jasprit Bumrah To Plug The Gap Left By The Absence Of Lasith Malinga
Published - 18 Sep 2020, 09:40 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:34 AM
Brett Lee, former Australian fast bowler, believes that Indian pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah can successfully plug the hole left by the absence of Lasith Malinga in the Mumbai Indians fast bowling group.
Lasith Malinga, the highest wicket-taker in the history of the IPL, will not be featuring for the defending champions this time around as the talismanic pacer opted out of the tournament in order spend time with his family.
Malinga’s absence is a big blow for MI but Brett Lee believes Jasprit Bumrah has the desired skill set to plug that hole, give the fact that he can execute his skills successfully both in the powerplay as well as in the death overs.
‘I have always been a Bumrah fan ever since he burst into the scenes some years ago. He has got a different bowling action, he pushes the ball in and can swing the ball both ways,” Brett Lee said on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’
“He is good with the new ball but I like him with the old ball and that’s why he can fill the shoes of Malinga and can bowl at death overs. He can bowl at 140kmph and zoom the ball in at the batsman’s feet. He is bowling yorkers consistently and there are very less bowlers like that, so he can fill those shoes,” he added.
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‘They have a very good chance’- Brett Lee on Chennai Super Kings
Brett Lee went on to pick Mumbai Indians as the favorites to win their fifth IPL title but he also reckoned that the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings have a pretty good chance this season, considering the fact that they have a tailor-made spin attack in the form of Imran Tahir, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja for the conditions of the United Arab Emirates.
“I have picked them to win and I think CSK has a good chance because of their spin attack.”>With (Mitchell) Santner, (Ravindra) Jadeja needs to step up and be the number one spinner and CSK has got great variety and none of the spinners are same, so they are at an advantage for the conditions in the UAE as the tournament progresses,” Brett Lee said.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will lock horns in the opening encounter of the 2020 IPL on Saturday.
