Opinion

Jasprit Bumrah may have been hurt by Hardik Pandya’s transfer to Mumbai Indians: Kris Srikkanth

Written by Mohan Sharma

Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has reacted to Jasprit Bumrah’s cryptic Instagram post, saying that the star Indian pacer might have been hurt by Hardik Pandya’s transfer to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024. Bumrah has recently been the subject of much speculation due to a cryptic Instagram post that read “Silence is sometimes the best answer.” This mysterious message has left fans and followers trying to decipher its meaning amidst rumors and discussions about his professional career.

Notably, Bumrah has been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians since his IPL debut in 2015, contributing to four title wins and his cryptic Instagram post coincides with Hardik Pandya’s transfer back to Mumbai Indians (MI), which has been seen as a strategic move by MI’s management, potentially grooming Pandya for a leadership role. Some fans have uploaded screenshots of Bumrah unfollowing MI on Instagram, while others claim his new team is the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the south. Some supporters believe Hardik’s return to MI has thrown a wrench in the pacer’s desire to succeed Rohit Sharma as captain, while others believe there’s no need to read between the lines.

“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,” Kris Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Srikkanth compared Jasprit Bumrah’s situation at MI to Ravindra Jadeja’s at CSK, expressing confidence that the team management would resolve the issue. He further empathized with Bumrah, stating that any player would feel hurt in such a situation.

“Something, similar happened with Ravindra Jadeja at CSK. But the team management and the captain came in and sorted out everything. In my opinion, what will happen is… I am sure the team management will sit with Pandya, Bumrah, and Rohit and sort out things. As a team only, you can only win championships. I would been hurt if something like that happened to me. After Hardik Pandya has returned, Bumrah might think, I am from Gujarat, I could have captained that team. I don’t whether it’s a lack of communication. Something must have happened. Otherwise, Bumrah, who is such a down-to-earth person… He is a fantastic human being, if he is getting annoyed, obviously, something must have happened,” Srikanth added.

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Mohan Sharma