Mumbai Indians’ (MI) pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is second in the race of the purple cap in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 but the Hardik Pandya-led side is languishing at the bottom of the points table. Apart from Bumrah, no other MI bowler is in top-15 wicket-takers of the tournament. As MI gear up for their last clash of the season against KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Wankhede Stadium, young Naman Dhir said that Bumrah did not get support from the other end. He also revealed that the coaches have acknowledged that it has not been their season despite players working hard.
“Sometimes we batted well or sometimes we bowled well. The coaches have also spoken with us that it was not our season, yet we worked hard. Yes, Jasprit bhai did not get enough support to his bowling in some matches, but we will learn from it,” Dhir was quoted as saying by PTI on the eve of their last league match.
In Suryakumar Yadav's absence due to injury at the start of the season, Dhir was given a chance to bat in the top order in MI's campaign opener against Gujarat Titans. He impressed with a 10-ball 20 cameo which featured three fours and a six. In the next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he contributed with another cameo of 14-ball 30. MI lost the game as they fell short of the historic 278-run target against Pat Cummins’ side.
However, Dhir went through a lean patch after that. He has has had two ducks and scores of 11 and 17 in the last four games. The Ambala-born 24-year-old batter was picked for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in the auction.
Batters disappoint too
The batting department has been unimpressive as well. There is only one MI batter in the top 20 run-scorers of IPL 2024. Tilak Varma is at the 13th spot with 416 runs from 13 games at an average of 41.60 including three half-centuries.
MI have eight points from 13 games. Even a win won't help them avoid finishing at no.10 on the points table.
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