Just like the fans and experts, SRH keeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen has been left surprised by the tactics of Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, regarding the overs distribution of Jasprit Bumrah.
SRH shattered many records, the biggest of which was the highest IPL score, on Wednesday night in Hyderabad by piling up 277 runs against MI. Bumrah emerged as MI’s best bowler on the night – as expected – and the only MI bowler with an economy less than 10, returning with figures of 0/36.
But MI could have mitigated this total by SRH had Hardik Pandya used more of Bumrah up front against Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, the duo that notched up their half-centuries in 18 and 16 balls respectively.
Bumrah bowled the 4th over and wasn’t recalled to bowl until the 13th over, till that time SRH had raced to 177. While Hardik and Mumbai’s plan was clear that they wanted to save Bumrah for Klaasen, many felt SRH had taken the game away from them by the time Klaasen came to bat.
Klaasen said that with already a huge platform laid by Head and Abhishek, he didn’t have any pressure to attack Bumrah. Klaasen and Markram didn’t take many risks against Bumrah and hammered the other MI bowlers.
Hardik Pandya missed a trick up front: Heinrich Klaasen
Speaking after the match, when he collected the Orange Cap, Heinrich Klaasen opined that Hardik Pandya made a blunder in Bumrah’s overs distribution.
Klaasen said, “They didn’t bowl their best bowler in the powerplay… that was our plan. They missed a trick up front. We’ve got incredible strikers up front in our batting line-up. They just set the tempo so our work was basically done.”
Former SRH coach Tom Mood echoed a similar sentiment on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out show, saying, “When you’ve got the best bowler in the world in this format – if not all formats – and for him to only bowl one over in the first ten overs… to bowl his second over in the 13rd over is extraordinary,”
While playing out Bumrah carefully, Klaasen tore into other MI bowlers to score 80* runs in 34 balls and took SRH’s total to 277. MI did give a little scare to SRH and were in the game till the 13th over, but SRH bowlers kept their cool and defended their total by 31 runs.
Also Read: [Watch] Fans Throw Chappals At Hardik Pandya During Live Screening
