Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that the Player of the Match award in the Qualifier 1 of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals should have been given to a batsman rather than a bowler.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was declared 'Man of the Match' at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday after he finished with his career-best figures of four for 14.Bumrah removed Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel during Delhi Capitals' chase of 201 runs.
Manjrekar, however, did not agree with the decision of handing Bumrah with the award as he felt that the match-winning impact in the all-important clash was made by a batsman.
The former cricketer though agree that Bumrah and Trent Boult displayed solid performances with the ball, he added that the Mumbai Indians had almost sealed the match with their batting.
"When adjudicating the MOM award one must look at how the game was placed at the half way stage, MI had almost sealed the game with their batting. So the match winning impact was made by batsmen. With due respect to Boult & Bumrah, MOM should have been a batsman. #MIvDC," Manjrekar tweeted.
When adjudicating the MOM award one must look at how the game was placed at the half way stage, MI had almost sealed the game with their batting. So the match winning impact was made by batsmen. With due respect to Boult & Bumrah, MOM should have been a batsman. #MIvDC
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 6, 2020
Asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians lost skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck after he was caught leg before wicket off a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery in the second over.
Suryakumar Yadav (51) then not only notched up a half-century but also stitched a crucial partnership of 62 runs for the second wicket with Quinton de Kock (40).
Subsequently, Ishan Kishan brought up an unbeaten knock of 55 runs off 30 balls besides sharing a 60-run stand with Hardik Pandya (37 not out) to help Mumbai Indians post a mammoth total of 200 for five.
In reply, Delhi Capitals were restricted to the score of 143 for eight in their stipulated 20 overs.Besides Bumrah, Trent Boult bagged two wickets in his two overs before he was forced to walk off the field with groin strain, while Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard claimed a wicket each.
Mumbai Indians will now meet the winner of Qualifier 2 between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday in the IPL 2020 final. The summit showdown will take place on November 10 (Tuesday) in Dubai.
