Power of tested pair in Mumbai comeback rerun

CHENNAI : Mumbai  Indians prefer May over April. Much like the student who flunks his preliminary exams but ends up acing the finals, Rohit Sharma and his men have this habit of resuscitating a flailing campaign during the business end of the tournament and gatecrashing the play-offs. For those who still have doubts regarding this pattern — which has reared its head again this season — here’s a statistic. Over the last four editions, Mumbai’s win percentage in April is 41.66.

That number shoots up to 69.23 in May. Unsurprisingly, this May has seen them notch up four wins from six clashes, a streak that has kept them alive in the top-four race. This time they have two men to thank, those who have upped their game during clutch situations: Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. “The two have had to deal with quite a bit of workload, and that might have affected their performance in the first half,” observed former India pace-bowling allrounder Madan Lal.

“But they have hit their stride. Bumrah has been brilliant, and Hardik too has stepped up.” More than individual numbers, a dissection of Mumbai’s bowling narrative is a better way of discerning Bumrah’s and Hardik’s role. Though oppositions have gotten off to steady starts against them (Mumbai’s powerplay economy and strike rate is 8.17 and 30.86), it is during the middle overs that they’ve applied a chokehold, catalysing their strong performances during the death.

From overs 6 to 15, Mumbai leak runs at a similar rate as the powerplay (8.13 per over), but this is also when they make inroads, as evidenced by a considerable spike in strike rate (23.14). And it is during the slog overs when they have truly derailed oppositions, allowing 8.84 runs for each over but sending a batsman back every 10.56 balls. And Bumrah’s and Hardik’s exploits with the ball have been the foundation stone.

Much in line with his splendid death-over outing in Mumbai’s win against Kings XI Punjab — he claimed three wickets in two overs, while giving away just 10 runs — the speedster has been their architect of destruction in the last five overs. Bumrah’s death-over economy and strike rate stands at 7.00 and 8.00, respectively. Hardik, on the other hand, has been Mumbai’s go-to man during the middle overs, even if his economy of 8.2 in this period suggests otherwise (it drops down to 6.89, if his one-over, 20-run mauling at the hands of Brendon Mc- Cullum against Bangalore is discounted).

Hardik has also inflicted most of his dismissals (5 out of 10) during the middle overs, setting the stage for Bumrah. He has also contributed with the bat in this period (172 runs at a strike rate of 142.14). “Bumrah has got many variations, he’s quick, and he’s difficult to pick. Hardik is doing well, but he needs to start learning how to move the ball. At a ground like Feroz Shah Kotla (Mumbai will face Delhi there on Sunday) and with guys like Rishabh Pant in great form, the two will definitely be key with the ball.” rahulravi@newindianexpress.com