Faf du Plessis blames Jasprit Bumrah for RCB's demolition
Published - 12 Apr 2024, 11:33 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:10 AM
Jasprit Bumrah proved once again how big of an asset he is for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League circuit.
As he sets his sights on a 20+ wicket season for the first time since 2021, Bumrah has done the initial work very well, and out of the 10 wickets he has picked up thus far, half of them came last night against RCB.
His performance intrigued opposing captain Faf du Plessis to heap a lot of praise on him for his variation and wished to have a bowler like Bumrah within himself.
Both MI and RCB were looking to win just their 2nd match of the 2024 season at the Wankhede stadium last night.
The hosts were in a far better position than Bengaluru was as Hardik Pandya's side had entered the match after beating Delhi Capitals by 29 runs in their previous game where they also scored this season's 3rd highest total.
While their batting remained untouchable, the bowling except for Jasprit Bumrah, needed a bit more hard work to do.
Last night after Pandya asked RCB to bat first, it was Jasprit Bumrah who got the big fish Virat Kohli in his very first over of the match, and then Akash Madhwal followed by claiming Will Jacks' wicket.
Then through the blistering knocks from Faf du Plessis (61 off 40) Rajat Patidar (50 off 26) and Dinesh Karthik (53 off 23), RCB posted 198 as the target.
In response, Mumbai chased down the entire total by the 17th over through aggressive knocks from Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Tilak Varma.
du Plessis says Jasprit Bumrah cannot be put under pressure
Jasprit Bumrah, after claiming Kohli in his very first over, also picked up the wickets of RCB skipper du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Sourav Chauhan, and Vyshak Vijay Kumar.
His figures of 5/21 in the match became the second-best figures of his IPL career as he once again proved why he is the best bowler in the world at the moment, across formats. After the match, du Plessis, while speaking in the post-match presentation, had nothing but words of praise for Bumrah.
The South Africans claimed that Jasprit Bumrah was the entire point of difference for the Mumbai Indians and that he could not be put under pressure that easily.
du Plessis also hailed Bumrah for the variety of deliveries he has in his arsenal, highlighting the bouncers, slower bouncers as well as the off-cutters.
"He (Bumrah) has been the difference in the two innings. We put them under pressure but the one guy, being out there myself, and you see him with the ball in his hand. You want to put him under pressure, but the variety does everyone in. He has got a really good bouncer, slower ball." - du Plessis said post-match.
Jasprit Bumrah reveals the secret to his bowling success
For his 5/21, Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged as man of the match. He was asked to speak about the secret behind success and this is what he had to say. “For me, preparation is always the key. When you prepare hard, you put yourself under pressure in the nets. You bowl to batters in the nets who hit big sixes, and find out how you react to pressure. Then you start finding answers. That is very very important for me – to keep pushing yourself in training."
