The fact that Hardik Pandya used Jasprit Bumrah for only one over till the thirteenth left Steve Smith “perplexed.”

During the SRH vs. MI match on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, Australian international Steve Smith, who is providing commentary for the Twenty24 Indian Premier League, was confused by Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya’s decision to give Jasprit Bumrah more than one over until the 13th over of the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings. SRH proceeded to record a record of 277/3.

After delivering one over during the powerplay, Bumrah was finally called on in the 13th over, by which point the SRH batsmen had amassed 173 runs in only 12 overs. The Indian speedster was the most economical MI bowler, going at 9 RPO, despite conceding six runs off the 13th and going for runs in his last four overs. Among bowlers from both teams, only Pat Cummins had a higher economy (8.75).

“I believe they made a mistake by not bringing Bumrah back in the thirteenth over. You just have to bring your best bowler back sooner than you would have wanted when the ball is moving around that much. All you have to do is adjust as you go. After the game, Smith told Star Sports, “I would have tried to get some wickets by bowling Bumrah out by the 15th or 16th over.”

Smith emphasized that Bumrah needed to be brought in much earlier in order to go for wickets and stop the run flow.

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After you take a few wickets, you still reduce the run rate. It doesn’t matter who bowls if these people are hitting last. That was evident in the last two overs, when he continued to get slapped. So, a lot may have changed if he had returned sooner and taken some chances. They might have been down to 250 and could have pursued them down, but instead they had 277. Bumrah had bowled only one over until the thirteenth over, which confused me, he said.

The Mumbai Indians responded well, scoring 246/5, led by 34-ball 64 from Tilak Verma. Even so, SRH was able to hold off MI with some cunning bowling in the last overs, especially from Cummins, who came back with the crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma early in the innings and Verma later on. Cummins completed his four with a 2/35 mark. Pandya, the MI captain, scored 20 off 24 balls.