MATCH STORY
Follow UsMumbai Indians’ (MI) fast bowling fortunes have been in the doldrums in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). They have a genius in Jasprit Bumrah but the gulf between him and others is quite a big one.
Before the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 51, Bumrah had an economy of 6.4 while picking wickets at 18.3 runs apiece. The next best economy for Mumbai after Bumrah was Gerald Coetzee at 10.1 and Nuwan Thushara at 10.4.
Everyone else had gone at more than 11.
There is a similar pattern in terms of picking wickets. Coetzee is the best after Bumrah at 24.4 runs per wicket. He has pouched only one wicket less than Bumrah while playing one match less. However, most of his wickets are during the death overs (seven out of 13). Mumbai haven’t picked enough wickets upfront.
Taking new ball wickets has been a major problem for Mumbai ever since Trent Boult moved to Rajasthan Royals in the 2022 mega auction. Since then, Mumbai have the second-worst pace-bowling average in the powerplay at 37.6 runs per wicket.
They want to keep Bumrah free for the death overs and, if necessary, an over in the middle overs to target a superstar on the opposition side.
Hence, Mumbai’s struggle for a powerplay strike bowler has been evident. That has resulted in their massive downfall in this three-year cycle.
Mumbai tried a few left-arm pacers this season. Kwena Maphaka and Luke Wood were preferred over the others like Romario Shepherd. While Shepherd himself isn’t a bonafide wicket-taker, Wood and Maphaka didn’t click either. Mumbai kept lacking the early bite with the ball.
Things changed against KKR on Friday (May 3). Bowling first, Thushara snapped three wickets in his first spell, reducing them to 28/3 after three overs in the innings. Thushara bowled two of them, dismissing Phil Salt, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer.
The 29-year-old from Sri Lanka is a different gravy. He is one of those ‘Baby Malinga’ popping out of the island country. Malinga carved out his IPL legacy playing for Mumbai. And having seen the success of Matheesha Pathirana for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), it was no surprise that Mumbai wanted a Malinga of their own.
After KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) surged his price from INR 50 lakh to INR 1.1 crore, Mumbai swooped the right-armer away, signing him for INR 4.8 crore.
However, Thushara didn’t have the best start to the season. Before this game, he had figures of 0/28 against Rajasthan, 0/56 against Delhi, and 1/30 against Lucknow As mentioned above, his economy (10.4) was acceptable, but he wasn’t picking enough wickets — only one for 114 runs.
Against KKR, he increased the tally by four times.
Kolkata have the best batting run rate and average in the powerplay. This is also a consequence of playing a lot of high-scoring games at home in Kolkata, but Mumbai had a task at hand.
On a two-paced wicket, Thushara drew 41.7% false shots in the powerplay alone. He made Salt, Raghuvanshi, and Shreyas Iyer play the ball too early. Even when he bowled only two balls in line with the stumps, Thushara’s pace, ranging between 130 and 140 kph, was perfect to dismantle KKR at the top.
KKR recovered to post 169 but Thushara’s three wickets had a lasting impact in the innings, helping Mumbai to tighten the noose in the final five overs.
After 3/25 in the powerplay, Thushara finished the day’s job with figures of 3/42 in his four overs. The economy went above 10 again but Mumbai would be happy he is among wickets.
With Thushara’s action, you won’t get control. But the only thing Mumbai are bothered about is wickets from his end.
Thushara is a late bloomer. At 29, he is still a raw talent. He debuted in T20s in 2016 and has played only 90 matches in the format in nine years. But he will hope he has found a home in Mumbai like his role model and his mentor at Mumbai Indians, Lasith Malinga.
In return, Mumbai would be keeping their fingers crossed that he indeed fills into the big shoes for a few years, as he solves a lot of their issues.
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