New Delhi:
Rishabh Pant was tearing apart the Mumbai Indians bowlers at the Wankhede stadium. Delhi Capitals were on course for a big total. Pant was even taking apart Jasprit Bumrah, considered the best bowler in limited-overs format. His 78 off 27 balls helped Delhi Capitals score 100 runs in the last six overs. However, in the last ball of the 20th over of the Delhi Capitals, an incident occurred which worried millions of Indian fans and put the Indian cricket team potentially bound for the World Cup on tenterhooks. Pant dug out a yorker to the left of Bumrah and the bowler dived to stop it. However, he injured his left shoulder and was writhing in pain on the ground.
The Mumbai Indians physio, Nitin Patel, came out and attended to Bumrah as the bowler gingerly walked back to the dressing room. In the entire Mumbai Indians innings, he did not attempt to move his shoulder and he did not come out to bat when Mitchell McClenaghan was stumped by Pant off legspinner Rahul Tewatia. Mumbai Indians lost by 37 runs to start their tournament on a wrong note.
The loss for Mumbai Indians was not on everyone’s mind. Bumrah’s injury dominated headlines and there was no update for close to a couple of hours. However, Mumbai Indians released a statement saying that the pacer will be assessed on Monday and a decision will be taken following the assessment. However, there was another statement by Mumbai Indians which will gladden the hearts of the fans in which they stated that Bumrah was ‘recovering well’ from the injury.
Bumrah has been India’s gun bowler for the past couple of seasons for the Indian cricket team. In 2017, he took 39 wickets in ODIs and in 2018, he took 22 wickets at an outstanding average of 16. In the 2018 season, he played a vital part in India securing wins in South Africa and England but his 20 wickets in Australia, including nine in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne helped India win a Test series Down Under for the first time.
With Bumrah’s injury, the calls to rest him for the remainder of the Indian Premier League will grow louder. With the World Cup less than two months away, the Indian cricket team management will have to make a big call on their key resource in India’s bowling.
