Image Credit- BCCI
Was the Mumbai
Indians’ concentration on keeping Jasprit Bumrah back for Heinrich Klaasen a
hindrance? Bumrah bowled the fourth over of the innings, and didn’t deliver
another ball until the 13th over. By then, Sunrisers Hyderabad was well on
their way to smashing the record, with No. 5 Klaasen batting on eight off three
balls. The seasoned duo of Aiden Markram and Klaasen dismissed Bumrah with
hardly little pressure, leading Sunrisers to the highest-ever IPL score of 277
for 3.
Tom Moody, head coach of the Sunrisers and a former Australia all-rounder,
called it “extraordinary” that Mumbai did not make a course
correction sooner. Before Sunrisers were able to reach 148 for two in ten overs
and 177 for three in twelve Bumrah returned for his three remaining overs.
“When you’ve
got the best bowler in the world in this format – if not all formats – and for
him to only bowl one over in the first ten overs… to bowl his second over in
the 13rd over is extraordinary,” Moody said, analysing the innings alongside
former India opener Wasim Jaffer and New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan.
“By then, the game’s gone, the game’s totally gone.
“I totally get if they want to use a couple of swing bowling options in
the first or second over, I understand that. But Jasprit Bumrah has to bowl two
overs in the powerplay purely because of what he brings to the table. One of
the priorities in powerplay cricket is wickets and he is your best
wicket-taker, and he always will be your best wicket-taker. And for him and
Mumbai to be starved of that opportunity to try and stem the flow of this
onslaught is crazy. It just doesn’t seem right.”
Speaking to the
media following his flawless 80 runs off 34 balls, Klaasen said Mumbai
“missed a trick” in the powerplay by relying on Bumrah for just one
over and gave the Sunrisers top order credit for providing him with a platform.
Additionally, he attested that the runs at the top gave him confidence to take
on Bumrah.
“They didn’t bowl their best bowler in the powerplay… that was our
plan,” Klaasen said while collecting the orange cap. “They missed a
trick up front. We’ve got incredible strikers up front in our batting line-up.
They just set the tempo so our work was basically done.”