Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 3 best spells against Mumbai Indians

While he might not be as dazzling as Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer might not be as express as Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a stalwart for SunRisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

His strength is not hurrying batters with sheer pace or troubling them with his skiddy bowling. Bhuvneshwar mostly relies more on swing bowling but can flawlessly execute sharp yorkers. He mostly looks to trouble batters with his accuracy and by moving the ball both ways from the same length.

He is among those rare bowlers who have managed to keep their economy below 7.5 in 150 IPL matches so far. It speaks volumes about his skills, especially in death overs, where his economy of 8.79 is at par with the likes of Bumrah and Archer.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar likes to bowl against the Mumbai Indians (MI), against whom he has scalped 19 wickets so far at an SR of 17.37 and an outstanding economy rate of 6.44.

On that note, let's take a look at Kumar's top three spells against MI in the IPL.

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#3 2/17 vs Mumbai Indians, (IPL 2014, Dubai)

On a sporting Dubai pitch that has something for both batters and bowlers, the SunRisers did a pretty decent job of piling up 172/5 against a strong MI bowling attack.

The onus was on the SRH bowlers to stop what was a rampant batting line-up for Mumbai Indians, and who better than Bhuvneshwar Kumar to do the job? He and Dale Steyn displayed great swing bowling with the new ball.

MI batters found it difficult to score boundaries against him, prompting them to take risks on other bowlers, resulting in them playing false shots and losing their wickets.

He also bowled superbly in the death overs and hardly gave anything. Kumar also picked up the wicket of Harbhajan Singh to end Mumbai's hope. His spell helped SRH defend the total as MI fell short by 15 runs.

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#2 3/26 vs Mumbai Indians, (IPL 2015, Wankhede)

On a spicy Wankhede pitch, the MI batters went all guns blazing against the SRH bowlers and were well placed at 108/3 after the 14th over and were looking nothing less than 175.

But then Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled their hearts out in death overs and restricted MI to a paltry yet challenging score of 157/8.

Kumar mixed lengths in the death overs and mostly looked to bowl wide lines and slower ones against the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard.

He foxed Rayudu with his variations, who holed out at long-on, trying to muscle his low full toss. Pollard, on the other hand, failed to read his slower one and saw his leg-stump cartwheeling. The senior fast bowler eventually finished his spell with figures of 3/26.

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#1 3/21 vs Mumbai Indians, (IPL 2017, Wankhede)

In a match that witnessed its share of balance shifting from time to time, MI managed to get past Bhuvneshwar Kumar's brilliance with the ball.

Chasing a competitive total of 159 on a pitch that was offering assistance to pacers, Bhuvneshwar displayed a fine display of fast bowling. He not only showed his ability to swing the white cherry early on but also kept SRH in the game with his superb death bowling.

He bowled a barrage of short-length deliveries, mixed with slower ones, knuckleballs, and occasional yorkers, which troubled the MI batters to a great extent.

He dismissed Pollard, Krunal Pandya, and Nitish Rana without saying much, but a lack of support from other bowlers pegged his team back as MI chased the target with eight balls to spare. Bhuvneshwar Kumar's efforts were well and truly appreciated.