Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya showered praise on gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah after their convincing seven-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday.

Bumrah bagged his second five-wicket haul in the IPL, returning with impressive figures of 5-21 in his quota of four overs. The ace paceman accounted for a big wicket of Virat Kohli in his first over when he produced an inside-edge.

Bumrah then dismissed a well-settled Faf du Plessis and plumbed Mahipal Lomror in front of the wickets on the first ball. The right-arm pacer then bounced out Saurav Chauhan and Vijaykumar Vyshak on consecutive deliveries in the final over of his spell.

Bumrah has picked 10 wickets in five matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 11.90 and an impressive economy rate of 5.95. Thus, he is currently the Purple Cap holder in the tournament.

Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation, “Blessed to have Bumrah in my side. He does it over and over again. Any time I ask him to bowl, he comes and does what he does. He practices a lot. Before doing anything in the game, he makes sure he practices in the nets. The amount of experience and confidence he has is tremendous.”

Pandya also showered praise on Suryakumar Yadav, who scored a fine knock of 52 off just 19 balls. The talisman smashed five fours and four sixes in his whirlwind innings and completed his fifty off just 17 balls. Pandya feels it is difficult to set a field to SKY as he hits in unusual areas.

Pandya concluded, “I did tell him when he scored the fifty that welcome back (Surya). Always good to have Surya in your team with the areas he hits. I’ve been the opposition captain as well against him, it’s tough to put field for him. Some place he hits, I’ve never seen batters hit there.”

Mumbai Indians will next take on defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.