Steve Smith’s Left ‘Preplexed’ That Hardik Pandya Used Jasprit Bumrah for Just One Over Until the 13th

Jasprit Bumrah after the SRH vs MI match (BCCI Photo)

Australian international Steve Smith, who is on commentary duties for IPL 2024, was left perplexed by Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya’s decision not to give Jasprit Bumrah more than one over until the 13th over of the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings during the SRH vs MI match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, on Wednesday. SRH went on to register a record total of 277/3.

Bumrah, after bowling one over in the powerplay, was brought on only in the 13th over – by the time SRH batters had ransacked 173 runs in 12 overs. The Indian speedster conceded six runs off the 13th, and even though he went for runs in his last four overs, he still ended up being the most economical MI bowler going at 9 RPO. Only Pat Cummins had a better economy (8.75) among bowlers from both sides.

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“I think they missed a trick in bringing Bumrah back in the 13th over. When the ball’s going around like that, you’ve just got to bring your best bowler back earlier than you would’ve liked. It’s just about adapting on the go. I would’ve bowled Bumrah out by the 15-16th over to try to get some wickets,” said Smith in Star Sports after the match.

Smith emphasised the need to go for wickets to stem the flow of runs, and for that, Bumrah had to be brought in much earlier.

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“Once you get some wickets, you slow the run-rate down anyway. If these guys are batting at the end, it doesn’t matter who is bowling. We saw that in the last two overs where he still got smacked. So if he came back earlier and took some risks, things could have been really different. They got 277, they could’ve been down to 250 and they might’ve chased those down. I was just perplexed that Bumrah had bowled just 1 over up until the 13th over,” he added.

In reply, the Mumbai Indians put up a commendable effort, scoring 246/5 with Tilak Verma scoring a 34-ball 64. Still, SRH managed to stave off MI with some smart bowling in the death, led by Cummins himself, who returned with the key wickets of Rohit Sharma at the top and then Verma late in the piece. Cummins ended with 2/35 in his four. MI skipper Pandya scored 20 off 24 balls.