Fearless attitude of batsmen reason for high economy rates says, Mitchell McClenaghan

The left-hand pacer from New Zealand Mitchell McClenaghan has been a worthy buy for Mumbai Indians ever since he was picked in their squad in 2015. With his aggressive bowling, McClenaghan played a crucial role in helping Mumbai Indians win the IPL crown in 2015.

With Corey Anderson ruled out, MI were severely crippled, but he surprised many by instantly stepping up to the task when his team needed him the most. McClenaghan claimed 18 wickets in his first season and in the current edition, he has bagged 17 wickets so far making him a part of the top five wicket-takers.

He has been a regular death bowler for Mumbai along with Jasprit Bumrah and with his attacking style, he has many a time put the opposition on the back foot. This has pretty much helped Mumbai progress upwards in the points table. McClenaghan made his ODI debut for the Black Caps in 2013 against South Africa and was quite impressive in his first outing with the figures of 4 for 20.

Since then he has played 48 ODIs & 28 T20I for the Kiwis picking up 82 and 30 wickets respectively. He feels that the fearless attitude of batsmen has resulted in high economy rates for the bowlers with every passing season.

“If you look across the board in this IPL, there are times people have gone for 40-plus and very good bowlers simply go for 50 or 60, that is unheard of,” said McClenaghan as he was talking on the eve of Mumbai Indians’ last home group game against the Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.

The pacer further added: “The frequency of that actually happening is far greater than the past season. It is just the way the game has changed, the equipment has changed, batsmen are playing with lot less fear, youngsters come in and swing from ball one. It is getting harder but you have to keep backing yourself and adapting as we always do.”

McClenaghan also confirmed that Mumbai will miss the services of the English batsman Jos Buttler as he won’t be available for the playoffs.

“Buttler won’t be with us for the playoffs but he has had a great season for us. We are pretty lucky that someone like Lendl Simmons comes in and takes Jos’s spot. Key is Lendl gets a couple of games under his belt, gets up to speed before the playoffs,” he concluded.