NEW DELHI: Mark Boucher, the former South Africa cricketer who served as Mumbai Indians head coach in last two seasons of the IPL, said the side always looks a lot better when Jasprit is there, adding that his absence for the initial matches of IPL 2025 isn’t a great sign for them.
Bumrah is currently undergoing rehab at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (formerly the National Cricket Academy) in Bengaluru for a lower back injury which prevented him from bowling in the second innings of fifth Test at Sydney. Since then, Bumrah has been out of action and even missed India’s triumphant Champions Trophy campaign.
"Mumbai Indians without Jasprit Bumrah is straight away not a good thing. He's probably the world's best T20 bowler, and the fact that he can bowl in the powerplay and the death overs makes him a match winner in his own rights. Mumbai Indians with Jasprit Bumrah are always going to be a lot better team.
“I would love to have had Jasprit Bumrah in my first season (when he missed IPL 2023 due to back injury). I think that if we had him, I've got no doubt that we could have been title contenders. We got to the third position, but, I mean, he's the world's best bowler, so any team without Jasprit Bumrah is well, not going to be as good a team as with him in it, ” said Boucher, a JioStar expert, to IANS in a virtual interaction prior to the 18th edition of the tournament.
Bumrah has picked up 165 wickets in 133 matches for MI in the IPL, and Boucher thinks his absence will lead to MI rejigging their bowling plans and four overseas players equation, with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar becoming key figures.
“The fact that he's not available brings a guy like Trent Boult into the equation where he's going to have to probably lead the attack. Deepak Chahar as well is a new selection for Mumbai Indians, so I think he's going to play a massive role as well.
“It's going to be interesting to see how they start the competition with regard to the international players and what their splits are going to be. Are they going to play an extra batter or are they going to boost their bowling with internationals as well? It's going to be interesting to see what they go in with.
“There is no cover for Jasprit Bumrah, as it just depends on what they want to do with regards to the internationals. So they're definitely going to play Trent Boult and I know that they probably want to play Santner as well. Do they push Reece Topley into the equation? That might be at the expense of a batter up front, " he said.
Boucher also predicted Bumrah’s absence will impact the look of who opens alongside Rohit Sharma. “I think it might change throughout the whole competition, as they've got Indian batters to go up front. A guy like Robin Mintz, I think he can bat up front, and they've got that option.
"If they feel that they want to maybe put another Indian as a bowler, then they can go with Ryan Rickleton and have also got Will Jacks. So I think they've got plenty options. I'm really interested to see if they play Robin Minz, as he’s an unknown entity. You've got Naman Dhir as well, as he can also open the batting.
"Ryan Rickleton, though, will be fantastic from a bowling standpoint. Will Jacks has done really well. But as I said, I think it's all about the options. If they want to strengthen their bowling with the internationals, then that might be at the expense of one of the opening batters, " he concluded.