Did you know Rohit Sharma once took a call which changed the career of Jasprit Bumrah forever? Saying so is Parthiv Patel (through Jio Cinema), revealing that during IPL 2015 when Jasprit Bumrah was in his first season with Mumbai Indians and Rohit himself was the captain of the side, Bumrah was far from becoming ‘Boom Boom Bumrah’ let alone be a matchwinner for the side.
He said that Rohit decided to retain Bumrah despite being under pressure to drop him since his performances for Mumbai were not up to the mark. While talking to JioCinema, Parthiv Patel talked about the times he spent at Mumbai Indians with Rohit Sharma. One of the stories shot to prominence because of Rohit’s immense leadership skills. Bumrah had a terrible first season with the Mumbai Indians in 2015. Although he was reasonably economical, his inability to take wickets, and maintaining over eight runs an over meant that Rohit, who was the captain of the side, was under pressure from the team management to drop the youngster.
Parthiv Patel said "In IPL 2015, When Bumrah was new to MI & his performance was such that the team wanted to leave him but Rohit Sharma believed in his potential & decided to keep him – from next IPL season we saw the result". [JioCinema] pic.twitter.com/rium9f2WzP
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 14, 2024
But Rohit, with a view of the future dooming ahead, decided that Bumrah is to be retained because Rohit had seen what Bumrah had done at the nets and decided to retain him, a decision that proved to be one that stopped the career of the bowler from fizzling out, instead turning it into a career which will see him remembered as one of the most potent fast bowlers the world has ever seen. After getting a good run in the squad without much impressive performances, Bumrah soon burst into the scenes, and the rest they say, is history.
The speedster has been a vital cog in the Mumbai Indians squad since then, consistently coming up with game-changing performances, as they clinched their 5th IPL title last November. In 120 matches Bumrah has taken 145 wickets at an amazing average of 23.30 and an economy rate of 7.39.
Rohit, meanwhile, took just the field in Mumbai Indians’ season opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday (April 10) which ended in a one-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match was also the first time in a long time that Rohit was taking the field in someone else’s cap, as he was relieved of captaincy duties – handed to his India teammate Hardik Pandya – just ahead of the match.
