Rohit Sharma has always supported me and given me the freedom to do what I wanted at Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah

Sport

Jasprit Bumrah said supporting Rohit Sharma in the early stages of his career with the Mumbai Indians helped him develop confidence and develop as a bowler. Bumrah said he had started playing regularly for the five-time Indian Premier League champions under Rohit’s captaincy after being selected by MI back in 2013.

Speaking to R Ashwin on his YouTube show, Bumrah said his relationship with Rohit has been the same since the early days of his career and the skipper’s trust in him has played a huge part in his career. The highly rated fast bowler from India said the relationship has progressed to a stage where Rohit is allowing him to be in control of his field placements and bowling schedule for Mumbai Indians.

Bumrah made his IPL debut in 2013 but he only became a permanent part of MI’s plans in 2016 after making his India debut. The fast bowler from Gujarat has become a permanent member of the Mi team, winning 130 wickets in 106 games with an impressive 23.03 average.

“It’s been very good (relationship) since the early days. When I came into the team Ricky Ponting was the captain but I didn’t play regularly. But under Rohit I did. He had a lot of confidence in me, he gave me confidence “Bumrah said.

“He saw how I bowled in the nets and my skills. He always supported me and told me to believe in myself. Even in the early stages he had great faith in me. He gave me the important overs. It was the same relationship.

“Now we’ve reached a stage where he doesn’t even tell me things anymore. He will say: ‘You set the field yourself, if you have any changes tell me I will do it’. He has that confidence because I made things work, sometimes things might not go so well, but he’s always kept the atmosphere in our team very simple and calm.

“Under him I have the freedom to do what I want. That really helped me.”

Meanwhile, Bumrah dismissed the popular notion that he learned the tricks of the trade from the IPL, adding that domestic cricket had helped him a lot.

“SHANE BOND TOOK ME OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE”

Bumrah highlighted Shane Bond’s role in helping him learn new things by stepping out of his comfort zone during his early days with the Mumbai Indians.

“And when I reached the Mumbai Indians I had a set template for playing T20 cricket that got me here. So I figured I’d stick with it and I figured if I had the chance I might lose the things that I have.

“When I went there, Shane Bond and the Mumbai Indians setup taught me how to plan and analyze for different clubs. When I started I had 2-3 deliveries. I didn’t know which field to have when. Used to say ‘I’m going to bowl that delivery, they set the field accordingly because I didn’t know where the ball was going to go because my accuracy was still developing.

“But at MI I started to understand these things, started planning for myself. I started studying my own game. I realized that people are preparing for me, so I have to have things that are outside of the curriculum or outside of the thought process of the dough.

“For example, I can’t throw a slower ball because of the rope. I developed the slower Yorker. I’ve tried different things and gained the confidence to execute it came at MI.

“Shane Bond pushed me out of my comfort zone and tried new things. He pressured me and said things I didn’t do,” he said.

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