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Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 21 (ANI): Following the Mumbai Indians' (MI) emphatic win over the Gujarat Titans (GT), former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin said that there are chances that fans will get to see the best of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah after breaking his six-match wicketless streak in the competition.
While a scintillating century from Tilak Verma under pressure and a four-wicket haul from Ashwani Kumar were the show-stealing performances which revived MI's hopes for any progress in the tournament, perhaps the biggest positive was Bumrah breaking his wicketless streak in the IPL dating back to last year's playoffs, marking his biggest spree without any wickets in the IPL.
Speaking on his channel 'Ash Ki Baat', Ashwin said that Bumrah bowled really well in the first two matches, but the narrative of him being wicketless started to play on his mind, causing him to look frustarted during his matches against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where the superstar pacer leaked runs and was even taken down by RR's 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on the first ball he faced against Bumrah.
"I still think Bumrah bowled really well in the first two matches, but then the team started losing. Then the narrative also started that Bumrah was not getting wickets. That was probably playing on his mind. He got a wicket, and that was bound to happen. In the last two games, he is not the Bumrah that I have seen, but chances are that we will see the best of him ahead," Ashwin said.
He also backed the skipper Hardik Pandya to find his mojo with the bat following this important win, saying that the team would look unstoppable if Hardik gets back to his best.
"Remember that Hardik Pandya is yet to open up with the bat. He will also start opening up with the bat. It is just a matter of one innings. If he gets a good hit in one innings, it will be very difficult to stop this team. If this team starts firing, it will become very difficult to stop them. Hardik was not getting the win as captain, and there was pressure on him, and that pressure comes into your batting as well. With this win, chances are high that Hardik Pandya will find his mojo with the bat," he said.
Hardik has crossed the 20-run mark only on one occasion out of five innings, having made just 96 runs in five innings at an average of 24.00 and a strike rate of over 143 and his best score is 40.
Coming to the match, GT won the toss and elected to field first. Despite collapsing to 44/3 within the powerplay, MI found their footing in the game courtesy a half-century stand between Naman Dhir (45 in 32 balls, with six fours and a six) and Tilak Verma. Once struggling to go big and scoring at way below run-a-ball, Tilak exploded to score a 45-ball 101*, with eight fours and seven sixes, taking MI to 199/5 in 20 overs.
Pacer Kagiso Rabada (3/33) was the best bowler for GT, besides Mohammed Siraj (1/25), who continued his economical run in the competition.
During the chase, GT did not look like a threat at all and were skittled out for just 100 in 15.5 overs, with Ashwani (4/24) producing career-best figures with his left arm pace and spinners Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner putting GT under a tight squeeze with their two-wicket spells. Bumrah also fetched figures of 1/15 in three overs. (ANI)