Bumrah Imposing In IPL, Siraj Quite Ordinary!

With a little over seven weeks left for the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 to start in New York for the men in the blue team, the BCCI’s senior selection committee ought to be anxious about the form demonstrated by its leading lights — barring the notable exception of Jasprit Bumrah — in the fast bowling department. Bumrah has been exceptional, imposing himself upon the batters with a high degree of consistency; turning out for the beleaguered Mumbai Indians, he even bagged his second five-for in the home match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In six Tata-IPL season 17 matches, Bumrah has bowled 24 overs for returns of 10 wickets at 14.60 apiece. But his partner, Mohammed Siraj, has sent down 22 overs in six matches for RCB and taken four wickets at a high cost of 57.25, numbers similar to the 2022 season when he took nine wickets at 57.11 in 15 matches. But in the IPL-16, he took 19 wickets at 19.74 in 15 matches, numbers reflecting the blow-hot, blow-cold nature of the shortest format. Khaleel Ahmed (Delhi Capitals), Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans), Arshdeep Singh (Punjab Kings), Harshal Patel (Punjab Kings), Umesh Yadav (Gujarat Titans), Yash Thakur (Lucknow SuperGiants) and a few more are in the list of wicket-takers (5-6 band). Lucknow Super Giant’s Mayank Yadav was sensational in two matches before a side strain rendered him out of action. Luckily, the selectors have a fortnight to name the initial squad for the big show in the USA and Caribbean. Of much interest will be the news of Yadav’s fitness.