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Mumbai Indians (MI) pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah poked fun at Delhi Capitals (DC) pacer Mukesh Kumar after the latter’s comprehensive win on April 4. Bumrah called him ‘Mukesh McGrath’ after he bagged two scalps in the same over with the new ball. The pacers’ interaction left opener Rohit Sharma in splits. DC skipper Axar Patel and opener KL Rahul witnessed the fun exchange as well.
“Well done, Mukesh McGrath," said Bumrah in a video posted by DC captioned: "Mukki bhai, full name Mukesh Jonty McGrath Kumar".
Bumrah also lauded Mukesh for taking a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Tilak Varma and later, grabbing one on the boundary to get rid of Sherfane Rutherford.
“Mukesh picked up a great caught & bowled, and that one too, near the boundary line," Bumrah said.
Mukesh got the wickets of Ryan Rickelton and Varma with the new ball. He conceded 26 runs from three overs.
Not McGrath, Mukesh follows Hazlewood
While Bumrah compared Mukesh to legendary Australian pacer, he has been following another Australia’s footsteps, Josh Hazlewood. After the win over MI, he revealed working on bowling similar lengths as Hazlewood.
"Last year, we observed how Hazlewood bowled; he consistently hit Test lengths. Our coach advised me to focus on my strengths and target that area. It’s a difficult length to score off, especially if the ball is moving," Mukesh said in the post-match press conference.
Mukesh said that the DC team management has backed him for doing well in the practice games.
“There are practice matches before an IPL season. If you do well there, the management backs you. I did well in the practice match. So, the team has backed me. The performances are showing,” Mukesh said.
MI vs DC next clash
MI and DC will go up against each other on April 12 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Mukesh wasn't part of last year's high-scoring fixture when MI scored 234/5 in a crucial encounter. It will be interesting to see if Mukesh continues to do well against MI, especially in conditions where there is assistance for new-ball bowlers.
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