Since the last Test match against Australia in Sydney in early January, Jasprit Bumrah has been out.
Michael Clarke, the former captain of Australia, believes that the injury to pacer Jasprit Bumrah could hurt the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) chances of winning the 2025 Indian Premier League. Bumrah is currently recovering from a back ailment at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, thus he will miss the first few matches of the tournament. Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach of MI, acknowledged that Bumrah will require some time to fully recover, but acknowledged that his absence creates a significant gap as the team attempts to win a record sixth IPL championship.
Clarke questioned Bumrah’s efficacy after his return, stating that it would take him some time to reach his full potential. He made this statement on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.
“Bumrah is the one thing that worries me. He hasn’t played cricket, thus he can’t be at his peak in the opening match because he isn’t starting the tournament. Even though he can take five wickets and is a freak, I believe he will improve as the competition progresses. I simply don’t know. Mumbai would have a very tough time without Bumrah,” Clarke predicted.
Since he was unable to bowl in the second innings of the final Test match against Australia in Sydney in early January, when the hosts chased down 162 to win the series 3-1, Bumrah has been out of action. Consequently, he had also been absent from India’s triumphant Champions Trophy campaign.
Even though Clarke acknowledged that their bowling will be the deciding element, he still supported SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to win the IPL 2025.
I will most likely have some bias. Pat Cummins and Sunrisers Hyderabad are my first choices if I had to choose a player right now based on favoritism. Support the Australians. But once more, I believe that Sunrisers’ bowling is crucial. Without a doubt, their batting is good enough to win the competition. This year, Patty will be a better captain because he would have gained a lot of experience. They’re simply bowling, though. They can’t afford to have their quicks hurt. He [Cummins] plays a significant role in their death bowling, which is crucial,” he continued.
The bowlers’ greatest task for SRH is to overcome the Uppal track’s flatness.
However, they have two astute operators in Pat Cummins and Mohammed Shami who may take charge if the batting unit scores a lot of runs.
Harshal Patel is a solid death overs bowler despite having a greater economy rate than the third Indian pacer, who can be a weak link.
Adam Zampa is a wrist spinner, but it would be challenging to use him in every situation. The slow bowling of Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Chahar will be useful in this situation.
