“Blessed to have Bumrah in my side” : Hardik Pandya heaps praise on MI pacer after five-wicket haul against RCB
Jasprit Bumrah was all over Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday, as the Indian pacer managed to deliver the best figures of IPL 2024 so far. He picked up 5 wickets in his four over spell, conceding just 21 runs. His wickets included the likes of an in-form Virat Kohli, and Faf du Plessis who looked pretty much set out in the middle.
Hardik Pandya was all praise for the 30-year-old pacer after Mumbai Indians registered their second consecutive victory. MI chased down a total of 197 runs in just the 16th over, as the likes of Ishan Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav took the opposition bowling to the cleaners.
Hardik Pandya stated that it was a blessing to have someone like Jasprit Bumrah in his side, given the impact he can create during different stages of the innings. “Blessed to have Bumrah in my side. He does it over and over again. Any time I ask him to bowl, he comes and does what he does. He practices a lot. Before doing anything in the game, he makes sure he practices in the nets. The amount of experience and confidence he has is tremendous,” said Hardik in his post match speech.
“I’ve never seen batters hit there” : Hardik Pandya on Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav was back among the runs, as the Indian batter scored 52 runs off just 19 deliveries. This is a positive sign for the five-time champions, who have all their batters in form now. Hardik Pandya also managed to join the party, as he scored 21 runs off just 6 deliveries, hitting three sixes.
“Always good to have Surya in your team with the areas he hits. I’ve been opposition captain as well against him, it’s tough to put field for him. Some place he hits, I’ve never seen batters hit there. (I’ll do) Whatever the situation requires – last game I had to take some time, and this game’s scenario was different. I’ve always been a fan of whatever the situation demands,” said Pandya.
After registering three defeats at the start of their campaign, Mumbai Indians are well back on track. They have registered two consecutive wins against Delhi and Bengaluru in the last week at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai will conclude their run of home fixtures on Sunday, when they welcome Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium. This fixture is the biggest rivalry in IPL cricket, given that it pits the two most successful franchises against each other.
