Cricket

IPL 2024: They missed a trick in bringing Bumrah back in the 13th over – Steve Smith questions Hardik Pandya’s captaincy

Australian veteran batter Steve Smith questioned Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after Mumbai Indians suffered a 31-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday.

SRH posted the highest total in the IPL history, scoring a gargantuan total of 277 runs after Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen scored fine half-centuries. However, Pandya’s captaincy came under the scanner as he held back Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah was given the fourth over by Pandya and surprisingly he was not re-introduced into the attack when Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were going all guns blazing. Head and Sharma added a quickfire stand of 68 runs off just 22 balls as they took MI bowlers to the cleaners.

Bumrah, on the other hand, conceded 36 runs in his quota of four overs and went wicketless. The gun fast bowler was given his second spell in the 13th over but the damage was already done by then.

“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 on Star Sports.

Smith added that Bumrah could have provided a breakthrough in the middle overs, which would have helped MI keep the scoring rate in check.

“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,” Smith added.

MI will next face Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 1st April.

Related Post
Share
Published by
Website Admin

Recent Posts

“Never expected a very easy run” – Gautam Gambhir reflects on his tenure as coach after IND vs NZ 2024 Test series defeat

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has admitted that he never expected a very easy run… Read More

October 31, 2024

Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 – Gautam Gambhir on decline of good defensive technique in Test cricket

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir feels T20 cricket has led to the downfall of a… Read More

October 31, 2024

India needs Mumbai Test win before Australia tour – Gautam Gambhir

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir feels the Rohit Sharma-led team desperately needs to win the… Read More

October 31, 2024

I cannot say just the batters have let us down – Gautam Gambhir feels everyone should take responsibility for series loss against New Zealand

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to blame the batters after the team’s 2-0 series… Read More

October 31, 2024

It was insane – Bronny James after scoring his first NBA bucket

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James was on cloud nine after he managed to score… Read More

October 31, 2024

I’m happy with my team’s performance: Mohun Bagan SG head coach Jose Molina after win against Hyderabad FC

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina was delighted with the team’s performance after… Read More

October 31, 2024