Former Mumbai Indians star Harbhajan Singh has come out in support of Jasprit Bumrah after the pacer, this IPL season, has not been able to match his performances in the past. Just three wickets in 11 games at an economy of 8.51 is not something one would associate with Bumrah.
Mumbai Indians were eliminated on Sunday after a loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Raipur. MI bowlers had some sniff towards the end of the RCB chase and Bumrah did well at the death; however, the rest of the bowlers were not up to scratch. Harbhajan highlighted how heavily dependent MI are on Bumrah and insisted it is not a good thing.
“Jasprit Bumrah is the kind of bowler who can change a match at any moment. But relying too heavily on him is not the right thing to do. I think the other bowlers in the side, like Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Hardik Pandya, are all low on confidence," Bhajji said on JioStar’s ‘TATA IPL: Out or Not Out’.
"The challenge in that camp is how to bring them back to the same level of confidence as the others. Mumbai Indians have depended on Bumrah ever since he came into the side, but at the moment, they are relying on him far too heavily.
{{/usCountry}}"The challenge in that camp is how to bring them back to the same level of confidence as the others. Mumbai Indians have depended on Bumrah ever since he came into the side, but at the moment, they are relying on him far too heavily.
{{/usCountry}}"Somebody else also needs to pick up wickets. Spinners, too, are a concern. I think the biggest weakness of this side is the lack of quality local spinners. There used to be some good Indian spinners in the past, but there is no one at this point, and that is a major gap in the squad,” he added.
Not the same Mumbai Indians!
Harbhajan played for Mumbai Indians in their best era and won three IPL trophies with them from 2013-17. In 2018, he won with Chennai Super Kings too. The former India spinner, with more than 400 Test wickets to his name, recalled what the franchise used to be like during his time and how it has not been the same in recent years.
“The body language of Mumbai Indians, which also plays a big role, is something I have never seen like this before. I have been part of this team for nearly 10 years. Even when we were losing, like in the season where we lost five in a row, our body language was never flat, the will to fight back was always there," he said.
"Right now, that confidence is missing. Somebody needs to lead the way and say, ‘Whatever has happened is in the past. How we change things from here will depend on how we react on the field.’ It starts with one person, someone who needs to step up as that leader and take the team forward,” he added.