Mumbai Indians Jasprit Bumrah in action during the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody feels Mumbai Indians did not use pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah optimally during the IPL clash against Punjab Kings which allowed them to fight back from a difficult position and come within touching distance of MI’s total.

Bumrah was matchless in the game in Mullanpur on Thursday, taking the wickets of opener Sam Curran, Rilee Rossouw and the dangerous Shashank Singh to help MI win by nine runs. MI had set PBKS a target of 193.

The India mainstay bagged two wickets in the second over, dismissing Curran and Rossouw, but just when PBKS looked down and out, he was taken out of the attack, allowing the home team to claw back.

“Again, Mumbai leaning on him so much to turn their fortunes around. He bowled two overs early on and had the Punjab Kings on their back. But, interestingly enough, he didn’t bowl another over until the 13th,” said the former Australian cricketer on Star Sports Cricket Live.

“He’s at the peak of his powers at the moment. And that’s my point of where I think the Mumbai Indians let the Punjab Kings back into this contest. (Gerald) Coetzee and Bumrah for mine, and I’ll be interested to hear what the other fast bowlers think on this show. Should (Bumrah) have bowled again to be able to put Punjab completely out onto the campus,” he added.

Former South African quick Dale Steyn opined that MI’s frontline pacers Bumrah and Coetzee need support from other bowlers, given the rigours of the IPL. He hinted that an off-colour Pandya was not helping MI’s bowling department.

“We want to see them (MI) close out games early by bringing Bumrah back or Coetzee. But then they have to depend on guys like Hardik to finish off, who hasn’t been bowling as well of late and some of the other bowlers travelling like (Romario) Shepherd, they may struggle in the back end.

“Mumbai are in a situation now where they have to tactically figure things out, but they also need somebody to step up, their bowlers to step up and really help out Bumrah and Coetzee, because if they (MI) keep going the way they are, they might lose more points again.”

Moody also felt that Suryakumar Yadav will have to play the entire duration of the league to regain full fitness after returning from an ankle injury and a hernia surgery.

‘Mr 360 degrees’ struck a 53-ball 78 on Thursday as he guide MI to 192. With the middle-order batter vital to India’s chances in the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, Moody felt the cricketer needs to get his peak fitness back.

“It’s important that he slowly works back into full fitness, he needs to be playing for the whole 40 overs and that would be great. Not that he bowls or anything but for his own peace of mind and fitness for that the preparation for what is beyond the IPL. It was a great innings today (from him).

Steyn praised PBSK batter Ashutosh Sharma for the sweep shot he employed against Bumrah, something which has not been used against the India quick too often.

“I mean, IPL never ceases to disappoint us with close games and creating new heroes… Bumrah bowls a no-ball, and the next thing Ashutosh goes down and plays that sweep that goes for six.”

Punjab Kings players during the net practice session ahead of the IPL T20 cricket match against Mumbai Indians at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Punjab, on April 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Moorthy RV

Punjab Kings’ influential skipper Shikhar Dhawan is currently undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a shoulder injury, the team’s spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi said on Wednesday.

Sam Curran stood in as Punjab Kings captain in Dhawan’s absence in their match against Rajasthan Royals.

While he is set to miss Thursday’s match against Mumbai Indians here, Dhawan also remains doubtful for the April 21 game against Gujarat Titans.

“Regarding Shikhar, the medical team will update. As for now, he is under rehab,” Joshi said at the pre-match press conference.

Dhawan hasn’t had a great time with the bat in IPL 2024, but is still Kings’ highest run-getter currently with 152 runs from five innings, scoring at a strike rate of 125.61.

Joshi also said it’s high time the top-order batters find their groove and lift the team that is struggling at the seventh place with just two wins and four losses.

The only bright spot for PBKS this season has been resolute displays from their unsung Indian players Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, who both bat lower in the order and have had to make up for the shortcomings at the top more than once.

“See it’s always like bowlers win tournaments, batsmen win matches. And our bowling unit is definitely doing well consistently in all the areas. It’s time our batters take responsibility,” Joshi said.

“We have addressed the areas where we needed to look at, to score runs. And also coming into this wicket, it’s a challenge for batters also.

“Straightway, unlike other wickets in India, this is a challenging wickets for every batter, especially for the visitors, it’s going to be a challenge because the nature of bounce is completely different. So, it’s advantage for us, I guess,” the former India left-arm spinner added.

Jonny Bairstow, Dhawan’s opening partner, has had a rough time too, scoring just 96 runs in six innings, while Prabhsimran Singh (119 runs in six innings) and Jitesh Sharma (106 runs in six innings) have struggled for consistency and impact also.

With selection for the World Cup squad on the horizon, Jitesh, who is averaging 17.66, would be under the pump.

“In T20s, when you go through the first half of the tournament you will understand what sort of an approach you need to look at.

“At the same time you need to look at the target and whether you can approach it in a different way to approach that target because we have done well in the middle and we have had a great finish.

“Two new boys — Shashank and Ashutos — have chipped in. It’s time for the top-order to get into the groove and do a good job for us.”

PBKS will have to find more support for their overseas bowling duo of Curran (126 runs and 8 wickets) and Kagiso Rabada (9). The Indian pair of Arshdeep Singh (9) and Harshal Patel (7) have both been easy targets for batters.

“In T20 anything can happen, even the last over what you saw yesterday (between KKR and RR), but nevertheless, they will all come back stronger.

“They know the conditions better, especially (Harpreet) Brar, because he has played and he plays domestic cricket in the same ground. He understands, and hopefully, he will come back stronger,” Joshi said.

He added, “Each and every game is important and always our thought process is that we should strive to do well. If we look at the our last three games, they lasted till the last over, fifth ball of last over. So, it can be anybody’s match, especially in this format.

“Our endeavour is to always take the match deep. Definitely, we have not done well in batting in power play, and we have addressed that issue.”