Jasprit Bumrah, returning from a three-month injury layoff, gave his Mumbai Indians teammates a pep talk following their heartbreaking 12-run loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
Bumrah was playing his first match since missing the final day of the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney due to a back injury.
“It felt really good. But unfortunately, that’s how T20 cricket goes,” Bumrah said.
“The competition is still on. We can get on a roll, and we have to believe we can get on a roll.
“We are playing good cricket, and when we regroup in Delhi, we should be fresh and ready to go, believing we can turn things around and give it our best shot,” he added.
Bumrah conceded only 29 runs in his four overs. He was the only Mumbai bowler to average less than 10 runs per over.
“Having him (Bumrah) makes any team in the world very special,” Hardik Pandya said of his pace ace. “He came in and did his job, and I’m very happy to have him.”
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene said Bumrah is in “good nick” following his three-month injury layoff, and Mumbai Indians want to ease him back into competition mode in the IPL.
“I just spoke to him after the game, and he looks in good nick. He’s disappointed, as we all are, because he wanted a win on his return, but other than that, he looks fine. His pace was up, and his execution was good,” Jayawardene told the media after the match.
“(Having Bumrah back) just gives us more options,” Jayawardene said.
“We have two swing bowlers, and we need to give them that opportunity first up. Boom (Bumrah) is coming back from a three-month layoff, so we just wanted to ease him back into the competition,” the MI head coach said.
Jayawardene sounded assured of Bumrah’s progress and current status in terms of fitness and form.
“Yesterday (Sunday) was his first day where he bowled to batsmen. That (Bumrah’s bowling) is something we lacked in the last few games, so we have that now. But we just need to put all these pieces together and execute a good game to give us confidence so that we can move on,” he said.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
