With his Super Over heroics, Jasprit Bumrah has become the Mumbai Indians’ lead bowler

Jasprit Bumrah, remember the name. On Saturday, in Rajkot, the 23-year-old bowled one of the most spectacular Super Overs in world cricket to help Mumbai Indians edge Gujarat Lions after the match ended in a tie.

Mumbai scored just 11 runs in the Super Over, bowled by James Faulkner. With 12 to get from six balls, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma tossed the ball to Bumrah, to everyone’s amazement.

With Lasith Malinga in the team, to give the ball to the 23-year-old was a sort of a gamble. With Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum coming out to bat, Malinga would have been a more sensible option.

However, the gamble paid off, and how. Bumrah won the game for Mumbai, in spite of bowling eight balls in the Super Over. He started off with a no-ball and then added a wide, but despite that he just gave away six runs.

Bumrah contained two of the powerful strikers of the ball in world cricket with utmost ease. Neither Finch nor McCullum could read Bumrah’s slower balls or the yorkers, which seem to be getting better with every passing day.

The bigger story is not about Bumrah’s heroics in the Super Over, but him becoming Mumbai Indians’ primary bowler. With Sharma handing the ball to Bumrah instead of Malinga or Mitchell McClenaghan, the picture was clear: the Gujarat bowler is Mumbai Indians’ No 1 bowler today.

Growth of Bumrah, the bowler

Bumrah was spotted by John Wright during a Syed Mushtaq Ali game way back in 2013 when he was playing for Gujarat. Wright was so impressed by the youngster that he immediately told the Mumbai Indians to recruit him. His unorthodox bowling action caught many present in the team off guard, but with his pace, his teammates knew he would be a force to reckon with.

In his debut match, in 2014, he took three wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bumrah played 11 games that season, but could only manage to take five wickets. 2015 was even worse because he could only find a place in the playing XI four times due to injury and could manage only three wickets.

However, 2016 was the breakthrough year for Bumrah. With Malinga missing out due to injury, Bumrah stepped up and delivered for the Mumbai Indians. He took 15 wickets and was partnered well by McClenaghan, who took 17. Even though Mumbai finished fifth, they knew that Bumrah had finally come of age that season.

Such was his impact that, in 2016, Bumrah also made his India debut in Australia under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Bumrah proved to be a great death bowler for Dhoni and he soon became a regular in the Twenty20 and one-day team. He was one of the key players in India’s win at the Asia Cup and also helped the Men in Blue reach the semi-finals of the World T20. He ended 2016 as the highest wicket taker in T20 cricket, with 28 in 21 games. He also broke the record of most T20 wickets in a year held by Dirk Nannes.

Mumbai go from Malinga to Bumrah

Malinga has been a part of Mumbai Indians since the start of the IPL in 2008. His record alone states what he means for the team. With 149 wickets for Mumbai Indians till date, he is their most experienced and lethal fast bowlers. He has consistently taken more than 15 wickets in a season since 2009. He was at his best during the 2015 season, when he took 24 wickets, even as Mumbai won the title.

However, last year, Malinga missed the IPL and most of the cricketing season due to a back and knee injury. He tried making a return in the Asia Cup, but failed. He aggravated his knee injury to such an extent that he was ruled out of the World T20 Cup squad as well. However, he made a winning return in February this year against Australia and even took a hat-trick against Bangladesh in T20 game in April.

In the ongoing IPL season, he has taken six wickets in five matches. Against Gujarat Lions, he took two wickets, that too of Aaron Finch and Brendom McCullum. Malinga is hitting his stride and should be back at his very best soon. With Sharma giving Bumrah the Super Over, the message is clear that he is their main strike bowler.

However, Malinga will be proud of Bumrah’s rise because he was the one who taught the 23-year-old how to bowl those crucial yorkers and how to mix the deliveries to keep the batsmen guessing.

“I don’t practice like Malinga by keeping a shoe,” Bumrah said after the match. “I practice with him to bowl yorkers consistently. But I always have a death-bowling session whenever I do a practice session because it is very important time when I bowl for Gujarat in the domestic matches and for Mumbai Indians. So constantly whenever I practice I have a death-bowling session.”

About the pressure of bowling the Super Over, Bumrah said, “This was the first time I was bowling a Super Over and there is always pressure because there were only 11 runs [to defend]. But at that time you try to keep it calm head and not to focus on the negative things which you have to do. So I was always focusing on the positive aspects and thinking about the plans which we made. And that is what I was thinking about.”

Mumbai is in safe hands

With Bumrah hitting his stride, Mumbai Indians will be happy to know that their bowling unit has one of the rising stars of Indian cricket. With a matured head on his shoulders, Bumrah has the caliber and class to take the team forward. With likes of Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh and McClenaghan in the squad, Bumrah has the best in the business advising him.