 "Jasprit Bumrah, IPL 2020, Mumbai Indians")
Mumbai Indians stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard has explained the reason behind giving the new ball to star pacer Jasprit Bumrah against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday.
Trent Boult and Bumrah had dismantled CSK top order on Friday. Boult started the attack in the very first over itself and Bumrah wreaked havoc in the second over with CSK getting reduced to 3/3. Boult and Bumrah derailed the top-half of the Chennai innings before the completion of the powerplay.
With CSK losing the first wicket in the first over itself, Ambati Rayudu came into bat at number three. The last time these two teams met in the ongoing IPL, Rayudu was the top scorer and had won the game for CSK.
Pollard said that he knew Rayudu has performed well against Mumbai Indians in the past so he went ahead with the experienced Bumrah.
"It was good to see bowlers went and executed. We wanted to set the tone really really early as a bowling unit and we did that. Opening with our two main bowlers, obviously we weren't thinking of Jasprit with the new ball but after that over from Trent Boult and getting that early wicket, Rayudu too has batted well against us in the past, just decided to go for him (Bumrah) and it worked," explained Pollard during the post-match press conference.
"We were thinking Trent opening the bowling and then go Nathan (Coulter-Nile) or a spinner but with a couple of balls swinging, getting an early wicket and Rayudu coming in, we had to go to our most experienced bowler," Pollard opined.
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Mumbai Indians asked CSK to bat first after winning the toss. Pollard said he prefers chasing and he knew CSK had a dismal outing in the last game when the MS Dhoni-led side batted first.
"We batted first the first time we played it was day game but scores have been a bit lower. I am a big believer that you are always in the game when you batting second. And I rather prefer to chase 160 then to defend 160. CSK didn't bat in their last game too so putting them under pressure and then early wickets actually worked for us," said Pollard.
Ishan Kishan guided Mumbai Indians to an easy victory with a powerful 68 of 37 balls over CSK here at Sharjah Cricket Ground. With this win, Mumbai Indians regained the top spot in the points table with 14 points from 10 games.
"Our focus areas will be always be improving as a team, thinking about what we need to do as a team. So as a team we try to take one step at a time. No thought as of now to try the bench strength," said Pollard
Mumbai Indians will next face Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
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