IPL News: AB de Villiers believes Jasprit Bumrah will be under pressure while playing at the Chinnaswamy
What's the story?
Jasprit Bumrah is arguably the most dangerous fast bowler in the cricket fraternity right now. The No. 1 ranked speedster has been giving some of the best batsmen in the world a run for their money, and is widely considered to be the deadliest bowler on show in IPL 2019.
Bumrah is going to play his second game of the season against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Chinnaswamy tonight. Ahead of that high-octane clash, RCB batsman AB de Villiers has opened up about the seamer's bowling skills, and insisted that he's not as big a threat as he's been made out to be.
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Bumrah hasn't got off to a great start in the current IPL season. The pacer, in his first match of IPL 12, conceded 40 runs in his 4-over spell. Bumrah was hit all over the park by the Delhi Capitals batsmen, particularly by Rishabh Pant during death overs.
The right-handed seamer also suffered a shoulder injury on the last ball of the innings, but has recovered quickly enough to retain his spot in the XI for the match against RCB.
The heart of the matter
During the pre-match press conference, De Villiers commended Bumrah's skills but also sent a friendly warning that bowling against against the scintillating RCB batting line-up wouldn't be easy.
"No one is perfect and yes Bumrah is a very good bowler but he is also not supposed to get it right all the time. Here the ground is not very big and the wicket is more often than not good for the batters. For that matter, all the bowlers are under pressure here," De Villiers said.
“It is up to us batters to play a good game in the next match, assess the conditions well. Whichever wicket we are getting we need to play better cricket than the last game,” the former South African batsman added.
What's next?
Both RCB and MI are desperate to get back to winning ways, and today's clash could go a long way in making or breaking the winning mentality of the two teams. The ground is known for being a batting paradise and De Villiers would want to back up his words and help his side put up a big total on the board - irrespective of how well Bumrah bowls.