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    Mumbai has a secret weapon in the form of Jasprit Bumrah
Mumbai has a secret weapon in the form of Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah sent Virat Kohli back early, and he had only just begun his work for the night. Source: BCCI

Mumbai has a secret weapon in the form of Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah had already bowled one over and dismissed Virat Kohli before returning to bowl the 11th over of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) innings. The first over did not have a significant impact for two reasons: the predicted score in ESPNcricinfo's Smart Stats does not change easily with early overs, and the value of getting Kohli's wicket early is debatable.

The predicted score for RCB was 202 when Bumrah started the 11th over. Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar had survived the initial difficulties and were now in full flow. Du Plessis had scored 39 runs off 26 balls, while Patidar had scored 36 runs off 19 balls. Bumrah's four-run 11th over brought the predicted score to 189. When Bumrah began the 17th over, the score was 191, but after six balls, he had reduced it to 181 by taking the wickets of du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror.

These two overs by Bumrah followed 13- and 19-run overs, which had given RCB hope of achieving an above-par total, necessary at venues like the Wankhede Stadium where dew plays a significant role in the second innings. Bumrah, however, dashed those hopes on two occasions.

Shiva Jayaraman has highlighted Bumrah's ability to crush hopes with numbers. Bumrah has dismissed the most set batters - those batting on 30 or more - in the IPL, with a total of 38. However, this is not surprising as he often bowls at the death, forcing batters to take risks. It is important to note that the number of wickets alone is not a significant statistic. Bumrah has the best economy rate of any bowler since his debut, and the fifth-best overall, among fast bowlers when bowling to set batters in the IPL: just 8.01.

Therefore, Bumrah gets more set batters out and concedes fewer runs to them than any other fast bowler. Mumbai Indians will need all of that in 2024, as their other bowlers have yet to turn up. Bumrah currently holds the Purple Cap and has an economy rate of 5.95, which is 4.22 per over better than the second-most economical bowler in his team (among those who have bowled at least 10 overs this season). Mumbai is conceding at least 67 more runs than they would if they had five Bumrahs.

Dinesh Karthik helped RCB to a total of 196, but it was clear that they needed the runs they would have had if there was one less Bumrah in the opposition attack. The frustration of facing Bumrah's overs was clear in du Plessis' voice during the post-match presentation.

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