Mumbai Indians’ hard-hitter Tim David defended Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after their 31-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday. Pandya’s captaincy came under the cosh as he held back gun-fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah when Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were going berserk.

Bumrah bowled the fourth over of the innings and then he was re-introduced into the attack by Pandya in the 13th over. However, by then the damage was already done as Abhishek and Head scored 63 and 62 runs respectively in no time. The left-handed duo added 68 runs off just 22 balls as they took the inexperienced MI bowlers to the cleaners.

Bumrah conceded 36 runs in his four-over quota and also went wicketless. However, David said Bumrah can make an impact whenever he bowls.

Speaking at the press conference, David said, “There’s obviously planning that happens around, who’s bowling the first over. I think wherever Booms (Bumrah) bowls, he’s gonna make a massive impact for us.”

He added, “So there’s a lot of faith in wherever he wants to bowl. And I think we’ve seen that throughout the two games. He might take the new ball at stages, but again, I’m not making that decision, so it’s hard for me to comment.”

SRH posted 277 runs on the board, which is now the highest score by a team in the history of the IPL as they went past RCB’s record of 263 runs. The Orange Army also smashed 18 sixes in their innings as they batted at the top of their game. Heinrich Klaasen added the finishing touches as he smashed a quickfire knock of 80 runs off just 34 balls.

On the other hand, MI scored 246 runs while batting second but could not get over the line in the end.

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