Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has questioned Jasprit Bumrah’s below-par performance after Mumbai Indians suffered a six-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday.
Bumrah has scalped only two wickets in eight matches of the ongoing season at an average of 132 and an economy rate of 8.80.
The ace pacer had another tough night against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Wednesday as he returned with expensive figures of 0-54 in his four overs.
The gun fast bowler has always been a consistent performer for MI over the years but he hasn’t been able to deliver the goods in the ongoing season.
“Bumrah got hit for five sixes. There wasn’t an over where he wasn’t hit for a six. He conceded more than 50 runs. We call him the cheat code. We say he converts a 20-over match into a 16-over one. When you have 243 runs, you feel Bumrah would save them, but the opposing team chased it in 18.4 overs,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator highlighted that Bumrah could not hit the right areas, and every SRH batter was able to dominate him.
“Salil Arora also hit a six, and Heinrich Klaasen hit a six over cover. Whoever was coming was hitting. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma also hit sixes. Bumrah bowled only one ball above 140 clicks. This is slightly mind-numbing as to what is happening. He is bowling a lot of slower ones. There wasn’t any sharp bouncer or yorker,” Chopra observed.
The former Delhi cricketer questioned Hardik Pandya’s captaincy for not bowling Allah Ghazanfar as soon as the ball was replaced.
“Ghazanfar bowled well. I feel a trick was missed. When he picked up two wickets, Heinrich Klaasen came and played big shots against him. I felt the midwicket shouldn’t have been in the circle, there should have been a short fine leg, because he got hit for a four and a six there,” Chopra said.
“However, as soon as the ball was changed, as it had gotten very wet, that over should have been given to Allah Ghazanfar, but you didn’t. I thought that was a tactical error. You could have probably looked for a wicket there. That was a mistake for sure,” he added.
Mumbai Indians will next take on arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Saturday.
