'That’s what he does, it’s just his trademark' - Stuart Broad impressed by Jasprit Bumrah's bowling display against GT

Indian pace bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the entire IPL 2023 owing to a stress fracture he had sustained, couldn't have had a better comeback in the marquee tournament, although in a losing cause. He was the least expensive bowler by quite some margin in the game between the Gujarat Titans and the Mumbai Indians on Sunday, March 24, going at a meagre 3.50 in his quota of four overs, coupled with three vital wickets as well. 

Veteran English pacer Stuart Broad heaped praise on MI's strike bowler following his impressive performance. Broad was thoroughly impressed with Bumrah's performance but not particularly surprised, considering it as business as usual for the seasoned campaigner. Broad also stated that Bumrah possessed lethal weapons of pace and trajectory in his arsenal and had the capability to beat any batter in the world with these two attributes. He also speculated that Bumrah himself might have asked skipper Hardik Pandya to be brought on in the fourth over to clinch the first wicket and set the tone for the rest of the innings.

Also Read: 'Dhoni is Dhoni. You cannot match someone else' - Experts weigh in on Hardik Pandya dropping himself down the order against GT

“That’s what he does, it’s just his trademark. He will beat you with the pace. He will beat you with his trajectory. It’s an interesting one with the new ball, I feel like he asked to come on and get the first wicket of the day and set the tone,” Broad said on Star Sports.

Broad went on to praise the glut of talent and skill possessed by the pacer, and suggested that it was up to Hardik and MI's team management on how they would like to utilize the pacer going forward. 

“But whatever he is going to use, he is going to be successful because of so much skill and so much talent. And it’s just up to Hardik and team and management to figure out exactly where that will work,” Broad added.

Meanwhile, Australian talismanic batter, Steve Smith, also spoke highly of Bumrah, and said that it was great to witness him on the field after he missed out on the last season. He added that Bumrah did fantastically well to bowl the way he did, picking up wickets and limiting the flow of runs with utmost efficacy.

“He (Bumrah) is such a good bowler. We know that he has been such an unbelievable bowler for so many years. It’s great to see him back after obviously missing last year. He created a good impact in the very first game. He bowled beautifully - 3 for 14, on what looked like a pretty good wicket," remarked Smith.

Also Read: 'Ego bahut zyada ho gaya hai' - Netizens slam Hardik Pandya for hand gesture to send Rohit Sharma near boundary

Bumrah just a single instance away from equalling an IPL record

After going for only 14 runs in the match against GT it was the eighth time that the 30-year-old went for 15 or less after bowling his full quota of four overs during his IPL career. Only Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan have achieved this absurd feat more number of times (9).