Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar disagreed with the decision to award the Man of the Match award to Jasprit Bumrah at IPL 2020 Qualifier 1 between defending champions Mumbai Indians and the capital cities of Delhi in Dubai on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians fast pitcher Jasprit Bumrah received the Man of the Match award for career-best figures of 14/4, helping MI beat DC by 57 runs and advance to their sixth final of IPL.
Manjrekar agreed that both Bumrah and Trent Boult did a commendable job with the new ball early on, but according to him, the impact of the win in the MI vs DC match was made by one hitter.
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“The impact of the game win was made by the hitters. With all due respect to Boult & Bumrah, MOM should have been a hitter, ”Manjrekar tweeted.
“In awarding the MOM award, one must look at how the game was placed in the middle stage, MI had almost sealed the game with his hitting,” argued Manjrekar.
Suryakumar Yadav (51 of 38 balls) placed the platform on which Ishan Kishan (55 not out) and Hardik Pandya (37 without 14 balls) charged to take their team to 200 for 5. Kishan and Hardik Pandya took 78 runs in the the last five overs to push MI to 200, which otherwise looked like a score of 180 at best.
Scoring pressure got big in a shaky higher order of the Capitals with Trent Boult (2/9 in 2 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (4/14 in 4 overs) churning out a ‘Test Match Opening Spell’ to finish with the opposition. by 143 by 8.
Bumrah, who snatched the Purple Cap from DC pacemaker Kagiso Rabada, said it was a good feeling to win the Man of the Match as batters generally sweep the awards.
“The batsmen have taken all the prizes, so it’s good to get it as a bowler (laughs). Ah no, I don’t worry about the prizes. As long as the team wins, I’m happy. “
(With PTI inputs)
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