Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo Source: BCCI/Instagram)
After Hardik Pandya’s return to Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024 was confirmed, Jasprit Bumrah on the following day shared a cryptic post which got the cricketing world talking. The ace pacer on his Instagram story shared ‘silence is sometimes the best answer’ which gave birth to many speculations as certain sections believed that the cricketer wanted to become the next leader of the franchise but the five-time champions instead re-signed Pandya who could potentially lead Mumbai Indians after Rohit Sharma.
Analysing the situation, former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth stated that the pacer might have been hurt and might feel that the move was not fair to him. Notably, Bumrah played an integral part in helping MI win their last four championships and was among the leadership group. He also led India in the rescheduled Test match against England and hence, there might have been some expectations, which Srikkanth believes to be the case.
“You can’t find another cricketer like Jasprit Bumrah. Be it Tests or white-ball cricket, he is one of the best going around. He gave it his all in the World Cup. And as you said, in the 5th Test against England, he was the stand-in Test captain in 2022. He might have regrets. He would have been hurt. He must be feeling that he stayed back with MI but the franchise is now celebrating someone who left and came back. ‘You are making him the biggest thing on earth’. He might feel it’s not fair,” Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Something similar happened with Ravindra Jadeja at CSK: Srikkanth
Srikkanth also stated that Ravindra Jadeja felt the same when CSK management stripped him of captaincy. However, MS Dhoni interfered and solved the matter and he expects MI to do the same by having a meeting with Bumrah, Pandya and skipper Rohit Sharma.
“Something, similar happened with Ravindra Jadeja at CSK. In my opinion, what will happen is… I am sure the team management will sit with Pandya, Bumrah, and Rohit and sort out things. I would been hurt if something like that happened to me. I don’t know whether it’s a lack of communication. Something must have happened. If he is getting annoyed, obviously, something must have happened,” Srikanth added.