Cliff Notes – Boult gives Mumbai the sauce to get their season cooking
- Trent Boult is closing in on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s IPL powerplay wicket record, with 66 wickets and six at the death this season, showcasing his versatility as a bowler.
- Boult’s economy rate of 9.37 at the death is his best in IPL history, indicating his effectiveness in the slog overs, a role he has embraced more this season with Mumbai Indians.
- The partnership of Boult and Jasprit Bumrah has revitalised MI’s bowling attack, contributing to four wins in five matches since their reunion, reminiscent of their successful 2020 campaign.
Boult gives Mumbai the sauce to get their season cooking
We all know Trent Boult is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the first over of the IPL. He is now only 11 behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 77 wickets in IPL powerplays. That included the wickets of Travis Head and Abhishek Kumar in their fourth straight win a row, which made it only four powerplay wickets for him this IPL.
However, there is another development that Mumbai Indians will be pleased about. Boult has never taken more than nine wickets at the death in a single IPL season. He already has six this year. Then again, wickets should not ideally be the yardstick at the death because batters are just swinging as we saw with his dismissals of Abhinav Manohar and Pat Cummins in the last over. The real yardstick should be the economy. Boult has never finished an IPL with a better economy at the death than his 9.37 per over this year at the moment.
It is all the more striking because in his years at Rajasthan Royals, Boult was hardly ever seen as an option to bowl at the death. In his three years with RR, Boult bowled at the death in only 20 matches out of 41. And never more than an over. This year, he has bowled an over at the death in eight out of the nine matches he has played. It makes him a bit of a specialist in the slog overs.
Fourteen bowlers have bowled more than six overs at the death this IPL. Four have a better economy than Boult’s 9.37 per over. One of them is Jasprit Bumrah, who usually bowls two per game unless MI desperately need a wicket earlier. Bumrah is going at 7.75 an over at the death this IPL. MI are not anywhere near the best bowling team at the death this IPL but that’s because Bumrah was not available sooner. Since Bumrah’s return, they are on an average bowling three death overs for 25.
“You just need to be prepared for any role anytime,” Boult said. “At Rajasthan, I was prepared to bowl at any stage of the match. I’ve been lucky enough to play 10 IPL seasons where it hasn’t always been the same recipe every time.
Trent Boult gets a hug from captain Hardik Pandya for getting Travis Head for a duck BCCI
“The first thing is you have to always want the ball. This tournament’s such a big tournament, you’re coming up against the best players, and it’s always a big desire for me to take on the best players. Having that mindset of wanting the ball, and wanting to take on the big players is always a good start.”
With complete bowlers such as Bumrah and Boult, it is not about being more suited for one phase over the other. They will find ways to be effective in any phase. Of course you want Boult to be there when the swing has to be maximised – which is perhaps why RR used him more at the top – but if you ask him to bowl at the death, he is good enough to bowl well there. And since MI have Deepak Chahar to use the new ball, they can afford to keep Boult back for one quality over at the death as well.
Boult and Bumrah also happen to be the two bowlers on whom MI’s last IPL triumph was built, back in 2020. Since the two have come together this year, MI have won four out of five matches. Is this the sauce they have been looking for?