Mumbai Indians receive huge boost as Jasprit Bumrah returns to the camp

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who have won just one out of their four encounters in IPL-18, got a huge boost as their ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah returned to the side before the crucial game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium tonight.

Even though MI had a disastrous show in IPL-17 with just four wins in 14 games, Bumrah was the only top-class performer, who emerged the third-highest wicket-taker with 20 scalps after Punjab Kings’ Harshal Patel (24) and Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy (21). And with Bumrah joining the side, you could see a big relief on MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene’s smiling face when he appeared for the pre-match press conference on Sunday.   

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Mahela Jayawardene. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

“Boom’s coming back from a pretty decent layoff, so we need to give him that space. We’re very happy to have him in the camp, the experience he brings, that extra voice out there in the middle, chatting with Boulty [Trent Boult], chatting with Deepak [Chahar] or any other younger bowler, giving that advice is also very valuable for us. That’s what we’re looking forward to from him,” Jayawardene told reporters on Sunday.

“He’s [Bumrah] available, he’s training today [Sunday], and should be available [for the RCB game]. He arrived last night, he had his sessions with NCA [National Cricket Academy in Bangalore] to finalise that he’s been handed over to our physios. He’s bowling today, so all good,” Jayawardene remarked.

Four IPL games missed  

Bumrah, 31, was ruled out of the Champions Trophy and from MI’s first four games in the ongoing IPL due to a back injury. He last played in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Sydney Test against Australia in January. He was declared fit by BCCI’s Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

As the MI camp is enjoying Bumrah’s return, it may become a headache for RCB. The Ahmedabad-born pacer has a good record versus RCB’s top performer Virat Kohli. He has dismissed the former RCB captain five times, including last season’s game at the same venue when Kohli managed just three off nine balls.
Cricket fans at the Wankhede Stadium may also get to watch a battle of supremacy among the two star batters from both camps — former MI captain Rohit Sharma and Kohli. Rohit practised batting for more than half-an-hour, facing Bumrah, Trent Boult and all MI bowlers with quiet ease on Sunday evening.

Even Jayawardene is not worried about Rohit’s fitness as well as his form. “He’s batting well in the nets. If you’re telling me that every two innings, you’re going to look at someone’s performance, it’s a bit unfair. I remember his last innings was [in] the Champions Trophy-winning knock so, we have to give [support] and back the experienced guys and [expect] them to come to the party. As Mumbai [Indians], we’ve always backed the core group to deliver for us and we’re going to do that. It’s unfortunate that he got a knock in the nets. Hopefully, he will be 100 per cent then,” Jayawardene replied to mid-day’s query on Rohit’s form.

Rohit, who led MI to five IPL titles, scored a match-winning 76 against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai last month.    

RCB’s Tim David confident

Meanwhile, RCB’s Tim David was confident of his team playing well today. “We’re looking forward to this game, we haven’t dwelled too much on any match. It’s very rewarding when you win and you take your lessons from losses. But again, another great game here in Mumbai, they’ve obviously set up their team to play well in these conditions at one of the best batting pitches in the country, so let’s hope we get that tomorrow [Monday] night,” said David, who scored an 18-ball 32 against GT, in which the hosts lost by eight wickets on Wednesday.