Not long to go for IPL 2019 – March 23 or just 3 weeks at the time of this writing. This IPL is all about player power – stars such as M.S. Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Jaspreet Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, AB de Villiers and Rishabh Pant.
Yes, as you may have noticed, except AB de Villiers, everyone else named above is an Indian cricketer. This goes to show how strong the current Indian team is.
The world’s best batsman and bowler are both Indian – Virat Kohli and Jaspreet Bumrah. The world’s most accomplished cricketer, who has won literally everything in the game, is also Indian – MS Dhoni. The world’s most exciting young talent are Indian as well – Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant.
So the focus will be on each of these players.
Here’s a look at the most exciting clashe in IPL 2019: Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) vs. Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
The world’s best batsman vs. the world’s best bowler: Virat vs. Bumrah. Yes, the rivalry is very much on. But this is for the first time we have both – the best batsman and bowler in the world from India.
Virat has been around for a while and he has established himself as the #1 batsman of his generation. That goes without saying. Nobody in the modern game has the record that he does.
But the surprising thing over the last 12 to 18 months has been the emergence of Jaspreet Bumrah as perhaps the best bowler in the world. It is very rare to see a talent like Bumrah.
He is a fast bowler who swings the bowl at top speed. He has a perfect yorker, a deadly outswinger, and an accurate inswinger. He can bowl a really quick, well targeted bouncer.
He is also a very smart bowler, who is always in control of the situation. It is very rare for him to get hit around the park. Normally, when Bumrah starts taking wickets, he takes a bunch of them in quick time.
Quite frankly, we have been watching Indian cricket for the better part of three decades – we have never seen an Indian fast bowler with that kind of talent – pace and control, accuracy and intelligence.
That is why the battle between Virat and Bumrah is the one we look forward to more than any other in this IPL 2019. We are sure they are going to get a plenty of opportunities to go hammer and tongs against each other, as both Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore are expected to go far this season.
Virat has a point to prove for sure. He has been the most consistent batsman in the IPL since the start of the competition in 2008. However, it’s been 10 years with Royal Challengers, and he is yet to win the IPL trophy.
Whose fault is that? It’s certainly not Virat’s fault – he gives it all every time he plays for RCB. Cricket is a team game and even if you have superstar players like Virat and his mate AB de Villiers, but the rest of your squad consists of the likes of Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi and so on, you’re not going to achieve much.
Bumrah on the other hand has already won multiple IPLs as he is a part of the vert good Mumbai Indians team. So he will have the edge in his clash with Virat. Well, we can’t wait for the two lads to have a go at each other!
