Tom Moody Left Perplexed With The Use Of Jasprit Bumrah In The SRH vs MI IPL 2024 Match

The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) witnessed a superlative encounter between the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The record-breaking game saw more than 500 runs being scored in the 40 overs where SRH posted the highest-ever IPL total of 277 for 3 in the first innings and managed to register a 31-run victory. On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians were very much alive in the massive run-chase at the halfway mark but eventually they failed to cross the line. It was a pretty ordinary day for majority of the bowlers from both the teams. 

Jasprit Bumrah has to bowl two overs in the powerplay says Tom Moody

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, the Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a sensational start at the top having posted a total of 100 runs in the first seven overs itself. While making his SRH debut, the in-form Travis Head registered an excellent half-century off just 18 balls and Abhishek Sharma went on to smash the fastest fifty of the season that came off only 16 deliveries. Towards the end, the duo of Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram were involved in a wonderful partnership of 116 runs to help SRH reach a mammoth score of 277 for 3 in their quota of 20 overs. 

It was really difficult to digest how the Mumbai Indians utilized their premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah's four overs in the high-scoring encounter. The right-arm speedster bowled just a single over in the first ten overs of the SRH batting carnage. Bumrah ended his spell while conceding as many as 36 runs in his four overs in a game where majority of the bowlers were smashed all around the park. 

"When you've got the best bowler in the world in this format - if not all formats - and for him to only bowl one over in the first ten overs... to bowl his second over in the 13rd over is extraordinary. By then, the game's gone, the game's totally gone," former Australian cricketer Tom Moody said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"I totally get if they want to use a couple of swing-bowling options in the first or second over, I understand that. But Jasprit Bumrah has to bowl two overs in the powerplay purely because of what he brings to the table. One of the priorities in powerplay cricket is wickets and he is your best wicket-taker, and he always will be your best wicket-taker. And for him and Mumbai to be starved of that opportunity to try and stem the flow of this onslaught is crazy. It just doesn't seem right," he added.