With the sensational batting of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s duo Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis, RCB wiped out MI on Sunday at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
While fans continue to wait to see Bumrah back on the field, he has been unable to join the MI team due to a recurring injury.
Bumrah has attempted to make a comeback more than once since suffering a back injury in August which ruled him out of the Asia Cup. Initially, the injury did not seem serious as he was named in India’s T20 World Cup squad in September and even played the last two T20Is against Australia on September 23 and 25.
But after being ruled out of this IPL season, Sandeep Warrier replaced Bumrah in the Mumbai Indians squad.
“From the last six to eight months, I am used to playing without Jasprit Bumrah. Of course, this is a different setup but someone needs to put his hand up and step up. We can’t keep dwelling on it. Injuries are not in our control, we can’t do much about it. The other guys in the setup are quite talented as well,” Rohit said in a post-match presentation.
Mumbai Indians suffered defeat in their first match of the season and did not have an ideal start as they lost wickets early in the first innings.
Batter Tilak Verma‘s unbeaten 84 off 46 balls steered the innings and with the effective contribution of Nehal Wadhera and Hrithik Shokeen, Mumbai put up a score of 171/7 which Bangalore surpassed with ease by the through the 148-run opening stand between Du Plessis (73) skipper and Kohli (82 not out).
“Didn’t have a great start with the bat in the first six overs. But it was a really good effort from Tilak and a few other batters. But we didn’t execute well with the ball. It was a good pitch to bat on,” Rohit said.
Asked about Verma’s performance, MI skipper added, “He is a positive person, quite talented as well. Some of the shots he played, (it) showed a lot of courage. Hats off to Tilak to get us to a competitive total.”
Chinnaswamy Stadium is known for batter-friendly wickets and reflecting that Rohit said that his team should have scored 30-40 more.
“We didn’t set any target but we didn’t even bat to half of our potential and got to 170. Probably 30-40 runs more would have been ideal…Just the first game of the season, there’s a lot to look forward to.” Rohit concluded.
MI, after losing in the first match, will look for a win in their second match with Chennai Super Kings on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium, whereas RCB will play their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.