Irrespective of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise you assist and the end result of the Monday (April 8, 2025) evening mania on the Wankhede Stadium, each Indian cricket fan would have been thrilled to witness Jasprit Bumrah marking his return to aggressive cricket after three months.
“I just spoke to him after the game, and he looks in good nick. He is disappointed [with the result] as well. He wanted a win when he came back. But other than that, he looks fine. The pace was up, the execution was good,” Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians head coach, after MI fell wanting a gargantuan goal of 222 set by RCB.
With a spell of 4-0-29-0, Bumrah emerged as probably the most economical bowler on the Wankhede Stadium on an evening that noticed 430 runs being plundered in 40 overs. He bowled the 4th, eleventh, 18th and the twentieth overs of the RCB’s innings. Barring a six off his second ball – a pull by Virat Kohli – and one other off his penultimate ball by Jitesh Sharma – tonked over long-on – Bumrah didn’t concede a boundary.
Jayawardene was delighted with Bumrah’s return after he broke down on the second day of the fifth Test in Australia in early January. “We just wanted to ease him into the competition, but he bowled well and he controlled things really well. The more he starts playing, (gets) game time, he’ll get into it,” Jayawardene mentioned.
“The last time he was playing a Test match, all of a sudden he is playing a T20, so we need to understand that. The skills were brilliant but there are areas for us to improve.”
Published – April 08, 2025 05:06 pm IST
