Xtra Time Web Desk: Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Rajat Patidar acknowledges Mumbai Indian’s ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s skill, by praising his outstanding bowling precision, for picking up a stupendous 5-wicket haul against Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 match on Thursday, April 11. Bumrah won the Player of the Match award after Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai defeated Faf du Plessis’ RCB by 7 wickets and secured back-to-back wins at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Bumrah finished with figures of 4-0-21-5 as MI restricted RCB to 196 for 8 on an excellent pitch to bat on. He got rid of both Bengaluru openers, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, after which he dismissed Mahipal Lomror, Saurav Chauhan and Vijaykumar Vyshak. He was the only MI bowler to whom the MI batters had no answer to.
“He is a legendary bowler. I am no one to rate him. He’s a perfect bowler,” Patidar said in the post-match press conference.
‘We did not bowl well’, admits Patidar
Patidar was one of the 3 batters to score a fifty for RCB, along with du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik. He scored 50 runs off 26 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes and helped his team recover after RCB lost Virat and Will Jacks cheaply. Patidar said that he wanted to settle before going for the big shots.
“For me, it’s important to focus more on the process rather than results. So, I was trying to keep things simple and follow the process. Initially, my plan was to get set. The pitches in Mumbai have bounce and it’s good for the batters,” he said.
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MI batters went on a rampage to chase the total, with 27 balls to spare. Patidar said that RCB managed to get a decent total on the board, but admitted that his team did not bowl well. He also felt that dew made it tough for the bowlers to grip the ball.
“Mumbai batted well. A total of 196-200 was enough. We did not bowl well, and they got the advantage of dew as well,” Patidar added.