‘They are unbeatable as long as they have him’: Sehwag lauds Bumrah, explains why MI is ‘the best team’ of IPL
Speedster Jasprit Bumrah returned with figures of 1/14 in his four overs and bowled an excellent 17th over in which he only conceded three runs.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag lavished praise on Mumbai Indians fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, calling him the franchise's "Brahmastra" following their impressive win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League 2021 (IPL 2021) encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Speedster Bumrah returned with figures of 1/14 in his four overs and bowled an excellent 17th over in which he only conceded three runs.
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Speaking to Cricbuzz after the match, Sehwag remarked that as long as MI have this weapon, they are "unbeatable".
"He (Bumrah) is Mumbai Indians' "Brahmastra"; as long as they have the "Brahmastra", they are "Ajay" (unbeatable)", said Sehwag.
By "Brahmastra", he is referring to the invincible supernatural weapons mentioned in the epic of Indian mythology. The comments come after Mumbai Indians successfully defender another low total of 150 to win the game by 13 runs.
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Sehwag also added that the reason they are the top-most team in this tournament is that they have the resources to defend low totals and also chase down high titles.
"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 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. 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," explained Sehwag.
Boult and Chahar, too, were excellent on Saturday night against David Warner-led SRH. While Boult pocketed 3/28 in 3.4 overs, wreaking havoc at the death, Chahar turned the game to his team's favour with an exceptional spell in the middle overs. He finished with figures of 3/19 in 4 overs. Not only did he take wickets, but he also dented SRH's chances of a win by stemming the run-flow considerably.
This result means MI have won two of their first three IPL 2021 games, while SRH continue to reel at the bottom of the table with three losses on the bounce.