Built our bowling strategy around Bumrah: Bond
Whenever Rohit Sharma gave the ball to Jasprit Bumrah in crunch situations, more often than not, the Gujarat speedster did not disappoint his skipper.
Be it the Super Over against Gujarat Lions or the opening spell against Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 2 or Sunday’s final against Rising Pune Supergiant, Bumrah was always there to dig his team out of trouble and was one of the chief architects of Mumbai Indians’ title triumph.
Bumrah finished the 2017 campaign with 20 scalps, his best season in the IPL, and his emergence has given India skipper Virat Kohli a headache when he sits down to pick his speedsters in the final XI during the Champions Trophy. Besides Bumrah, others quick bowlers on India’s roster are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami. Bhuvneshwar finished with the Purple Cap for taking the most wickets in the IPL, while Shami and Yadav have done well in national colours.
MI bowling coach Shane Bond feels Bumrah has the skills to be successful in any conditions. “The way the guy is bowling in this tournament, if he carries this form through to the Champions Trophy, he’s going to play a big role in India’s success,” said Bond, who has worked closely with Bumrah in MI’s nets. Bond added that Mumbai tweaked their bowling strategy as the tournament progress and built it around Bumrah’s abilities. “He bowled the pressure overs because he has got the skills and he has done well for Mumbai as well as India.
“As the tournament progressed, we tweaked the attack around Bum’s bowling at the back end. Then, we started to use Malinga in the middle overs more as a defensive bowler. When you start to base you attack around a bowler like Bumrah, that shows a lot of his quality and I definitely think he will become a world-class bowler across all formats.” Rohit Sharma didn’t want to put undue pressure on Bumrah by calling him the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world. “I would prefer not to say he is world No. 1 (T20) bowler. He is doing a great job and I would like him to continue to do that. All those things will put pressure on him.