'He Comes and Does What he Does': Hardik Pandya 'Blessed to Have Jasprit Bumrah By His Side

Mumbai Indians picked up their second win of the ongoing edition of the IPL with a 7-wicket triumph over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.

RCB put up a total of 196 runs, but MI managed to chase down the target with relative ease as Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav starred with thier quickfire half-centuries.

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MI skipper Hardik Pandya expressed that the manner in which his side navigated the chase was quite impressive.

“It is always good to win, and the way we have won, it’s quite impressive, Pandya began.

Suryakumar Yadav made an incredible 52 off just 19 deliveries to help his side after the seamer he came in to replace, Akash Madhwal, picked up the wicket of RCB top order batter Will Jacks. Pandya opined that the impact player rule permits him to use an extra bowler, which payed off on the day.

“The impact player has given the opportunity to use an extra bowler if we require. It gives me a cushion as well,” Pandya expressed.

Rohit Sharma and Kishan put up a 101-run opening stand which helped MI close out the chase with 27 balls remaining and Pandya revealed that the players in his side are aware of their roles.

“The way Ro and Kishan batted, giving the platform, it was important for us to finish it early. We didn’t speak about it. That’s the beauty of this team, players know what to do,” he said.

But the day belonged to pacer Jasprit Bumrah who shone with a five-wicket haul as he scalped Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Saurav Chauhan and Vyshak Vijayakumar.

Pandya heaped praise on the seamer and pointed out the 30-year-old’s confidence and experience.

“Blessed to have Bumrah on my side. He does it over and over again. He practices a lot. The amount of experience and confidence he has is tremendous,” Pandya added.

Pandya also lauded the returning Suryakumar on his knock as he made his way back to the side after a bout on the sidelines through injury. Pandya also stated that it is difficult to set a field to stop the 33-year-old when he is on song.

“I did tell him when he scored the fifty that welcome back. I’ve been opposition captain as well against him, it’s tough to set a field for him,” the skipper concluded.