Jasprit Bumrah became the top retention among the five players Mumbai Indians retained on Thursday before going into the Indian Premier League‘s (IPL) mega auction later this month, and the ace fast bowler is happy about staying with the franchise where he started his journey to the top and play the role of a senior member.
As the first retained player, Bumrah has bagged INR 18 crore. The other four are Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore) and Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore).
“I came here as a 19-year-old teenager. Now I’m going to turn 31 and have a son, so it’s been a complete journey. I’m happy that the journey is continuing and no better feeling,” said Bumrah in a video shared by MI on Thursday.
Bumrah said he is ready to give back having earned a wealth of experience during his journey in the IPL, which is something he always expected from the legends when he first came in as a teenager.
“When I came, all the legends of the game were here, and I used to ask a lot of questions. So now, slowly the role is changing, and a lot of youngsters are coming into our team who are eight-nine years younger than me. So I always feel happy to help because I got a lot of help when I started…always trying my best to contribute in whatever way I can, and whenever I can,” he added.
Having finished at the bottom of the table in the last edition of the IPL, Bumrah says MI is keen to turn things around and know how to do it having been champions five times in the past.
“We have been successful in the past, and we know how to win championships..Look at yourself, rectify the mistakes and try to take on the positives. That is what has always worked for us, and I think that is something that we will focus on, and hopefully with a positive stride, we’ll get good results,” he added.
MI replaced Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of IPL 2024 and appointed Hardik Pandya in his place after trading the allrounder with Gujarat Titans.
Bumrah, meanwhile, has continued to excel, including at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, where he was named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ and is also the second most successful bowler for MI after Lasith Malinga.
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Malinga now serves as MI’s bowling coach.
“I didn’t want to be just any cricketer, I wanted to contribute more and do special things. So I don’t look at my overs as gold, I look at them as a responsibility,” he said. “The winning mentality is always there, because you’re playing the sport to win. If you are just there to participate, it doesn’t really land up well.”
