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Jasprit Bumrah: We’ve got good bowlers with us this year

By Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are scheduled to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday in their reverse fixture at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

While MI are coming off a loss against RR, RCB too suffered a defeat at the hands of CSK in their previous match.

Jasprit Bumrah addressed the media at the pre-match press conference. The right-arm pacer shared his thoughts on the previous match against Rajasthan, bowling at the death and living in bio-bubble.

You, Boult and Pattinson, have been almost unplayable this season. Do you think the loss against RR came at the right time to regroup and hit the drawing board? How do you analyze the game Stokes and Samson played that night.

Bumrah: “We’ve got good bowlers with us this year. Trent Boult, James Pattinson, and even Coulter-Nile is there. It’s always been very good to bowl with them. It’s a good partnership. We discuss a lot of things. In the game against RR, I think everybody was pretty clear in what they wanted to do. The wicket got better in the second innings as well and having said that, both Sanju and Stokes played a really good inning. When somebody has a very good day, you have to give a lot of appreciation to the other team that they had an outstanding day. They played their shots and were smart in the chances that they wanted to take. Overall, nothing to be worried about. We are very happy. We’re still very clear and have nothing to change drastically. It’s just one day, the opposition played better than you.”

Psychologically, what is the difference between bowling a Super Over and the last over of a chase in a regular time and bowlers who don’t usually go for yorkers in the last over of the chase seem to prefer yorkers in a Super Over? Why is that?

Bumrah: “It’s difficult to just categorize it in one go. Sometimes you might be sitting in your dressing room. You might not be expecting to bowl in a Super Over and suddenly you’ve to get ready and you’ve to start from the word go. So it depends on different people on how they treat it, but for me, I just try to keep things simple. Try to assess the wicket, try to assess the situation, the boundary sizes, and all that. Then I choose my options. It’s very difficult to say you should just bowl yorkers or slower ones. You’ve to be proactive and smart with what approach you want to have and what the wicket is helping as well. So all of these things, I keep in mind and try to do what I can.”

The nerves of bowling at the death and in the Super Over, how do you stay calm? Is there any kind of meditation you do to remain in control of yourself? 

Bumrah: “It’s always difficult when you bowl in a pressure situation. You can create an impact. So during that time, bowlers can come under pressure. They can complicate things. They can think about a lot of things that they shouldn’t. So I try to do things that are in my control. I try to stay in the present and take it one ball at a time. Whenever pressure creeps in, then I tell myself what the team requires me to do at that moment and then segregate the whole situation. I focus ball-by-ball. What do I have to execute on this ball? Be it even if I’m fielding, so what do I have to do on that particular ball on the field? So try to segregate the things, try to be in the present. That’s probably the goal that I always look to do in any situation.”

Do you make a conscious effort to not repeat the same delivery to keep the batsman guessing? Does it also depend on what stage of the match you are in?

Bumrah: “It depends on what stage, you’re in there at the match. Sometimes you might be looking to close off the over, sometimes you might take a gamble or try and attack. So it depends. It’s not that you have the same template, you’ll repeat all those balls or you’ll change with each delivery. It depends on the whole situation, what stage are you there on the match, what is the wicket offering in all the dimensions of the ground. So all of these things you keep in mind and then decide what kind of delivery to bowl.”

A few England and Australian players have expressed their concern about staying in a bio-bubble for a long time. In all probability, cricket will be played in the bubble till the next IPL. So how do you plan to stay mentally fresh and not let it get to you?

Bumrah: “It’s very important to be mentally fresh. I know it’s a little bit difficult to always stay in the bubble, stay in that controlled atmosphere, not being able to go out. You know when things are normal, you usually go out for a coffee or you roam around, so you get with the fresh air. So it’s difficult but you have to stay in the present. Try to control the things that you can and create a healthy atmosphere in the bubble. Try to be with each other, talk to a lot of people. Try to have a good conversation back home as well. So all of these things help you to stay in the bubble. This is what I look to do as well. I know times are tough but you have to adjust as professional cricketers, what you have to do and everybody’s safety is a top priority as well. So this is what I look to do and probably going forward, look to do the same.”

How much does this kind of setup which Mumbai Indians have put helps in regrouping and staying?

Bumrah: “It’s always important. You’ve got a lot of things over here. We’ve been looked after very well in the hotel. We’ve got a very good team room and gym. We’ve got beach access as well. So all of these things help because you’ve got a lot of space to roam around. You can do a lot of things and activities. When you come back to the hotel, you can switch off for a while. You can hang out with your friends. So all of these things are very important going forward as well. We’ve been lucky that everything has been taken care of really well and that is helping everyone, even the players who are not playing. It helps them to be in a very good state and whenever required, they can jump into the squad.”