As long as Mumbai Indians have Jasprit Bumrah, they are unbeatable: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, the former Indian cricketer, reckons that Mumbai Indians (MI) are unbeatable until they have the services of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah has been with the Mumbai-based franchise since 2013 and has grown leaps and bounds ever since. In the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Bumrah hasn’t given the batters much to work with.

In three games, the speedster has picked up only three wickets, but with an economy rate of 5.66, the best amongst his other MI teammates. Rohit Sharma has trusted him in critical stages and he hasn’t let his captain down by any means.

Sehwag praises Jasprit Bumrah

Sehwag went on to call Bumrah a trump card for Rohit and Co in the IPL. “He (Bumrah) is Mumbai Indians’ ‘Brahmastra’; as long as they have the ‘Brahmastra’, they are ‘Ajay’ (unbeatable),” Sehwag was quoted as saying on Cricbuzz.

On Saturday, MI beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), captained by David Warner, by 13 runs at the Chepauk. In that game, Bumrah picked up the wicket of Vijay Shankar and conceded only 14 runs at an economy rate of 3.50.

Sehwag also said that he expected Hardik Pandya to roll his arms over after Krunal Pandya went for a few runs during the onslaught from Jonny Bairstow. Sehwag said that Hardik’s change of pace would have troubled the SRH batters as well.

“When Jonny Bairstow hit plenty from Krunal Pandya’s two overs, that is why [Kieron] Pollard was brought on. They thought the way Vijay Shankar bowled, even Pollard could be useful the same way. That’s when I thought that we might get to see Hardik Pandya bowl as well,” he stated.

“He is good at bowling the slower balls. His pace has decreased due to back problems and doesn’t bowl as fast as he used to but he’s good at changing the pace of the ball.”

Sehwag also reckoned that MI are the ‘best team of the tournament’ because of their ability to restrict opponents in run-chases.

“This is why we say Mumbai Indians are the best team of this tournament; that is because they can defend low totals and also chase down high targets. In the bowling department, they have Boult, Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and all three did their job very efficiently,” Sehwag added.