IPL 2021, MI vs RR: 3 best bowling performances by Jasprit Bumrah against Rajasthan
Jasprit Bumrah missed out on the Purple Cap by a whisker in IPL 2020. The Mumbai Indians (MI) star will be keen to win the title in the ongoing season, but his start to this year's tournament has not been particularly good.
In the five games that Jasprit Bumrah played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, he picked up four wickets for the Mumbai Indians. He scalped two wickets in the season opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but only returned with two more wickets in the next four matches.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will expect Jasprit Bumrah to up his game in the Delhi leg. The conditions assisted the slower bowlers in Chennai, but the deck on offer at Arun Jaitley Stadium is a bit better for the fast bowlers.
With MI set to kick off their Delhi leg against RR on Thursday afternoon, here's a look at the top three bowling performances by Jasprit Bumrah while playing against the Jaipur-based franchise.
3. 2/28 - Jaipur, IPL 2018
The Rajasthan Royals hosted the Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium during the league stage of the 2018 season. The visiting team batted first and scored 167/7 in their 20 overs.
Chasing 168, the Royals reached 125/3, riding on Sanju Samson's half-century, while Ben Stokes played a 40-run knock. It appeared Rajasthan would win comfortably, but Jasprit Bumrah brought MI back into the game by dismissing Samson and Jos Buttler in quick succession.
Unfortunately, MI lost the game because of Krishnappa Gowtham's 11-ball 33*, but Bumrah bowled an excellent spell of 2/28 in his four overs.
2. 2/23 - Mumbai, IPL 2019
The Rajasthan Royals visited Mumbai to take on Rohit Sharma's team at Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2019. Mumbai batted first and posted a 187-run total, courtesy of Quinton de Kock's fifty.
The Royals got off a flier as Jos Buttler smashed a 43-ball 89 while Ajinkya Rahane backed him with a 21-ball 37. The Jaipur-based franchise were 147/1 at one stage before Rahul Chahar dismissed Buttler and prevented the England international from completing his century.
Jasprit Bumrah turned the game in MI's favor by taking the wickets of Sanju Samson and Steve Smith. He conceded just 23 runs in his four overs on the flat track at Wankhede Stadium. However, the Royals won the match by four wickets, with Shreyas Gopal scoring 13 runs off seven deliveries in the end.
1. Jasprit Bumrah's best bowling performance against the Rajasthan Royals in IPL
Jasprit Bumrah was in red hot form during the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League. Although he stayed away from the field for months because of the COVID-19 break, Jasprit bowled exceptionally well in IPL 2020.
In the match against the Rajasthan Royals at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Bumrah recorded his maiden IPL four-wicket haul to set up Mumbai's win. MI set a 194-run target for the Steve Smith-led outfit.
Jos Buttler dominated the MI bowlers again, scoring 70 runs at the top of the order. But the other batsmen could not stay in the middle for an extended period. Jasprit Bumrah opened his account by sending Smith back to the dressing room, and followed it up with the wickets of Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer and Shreyas Gopal to complete his first four-wicket haul.
Bumrah gave away only 20 runs in his four overs as he guided the Mumbai Indians to a 57-run win.