IPL 2020: Jasprit Bumrah can fill the shoes of Lasith Malinga and bowl at the death overs, says Brett Lee

Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee believes that Jasprit Bumrah can perform the role that Lasith Malinga played for the Mumbai Indians in the past and bowl in the death overs in his absence. Malinga has opted out of the IPL 2020 season as he wants to be with his family.

Although this is a huge loss for MI as Malinga was their star in the final last year, Lee feels that Bumrah has the ability to deliver yorkers, slower balls, and other variations on the slow pitches in the UAE. He also believes that Bumrah can swing the ball both ways at pace and cause problems for the batsmen.

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"I have always been a Bumrah fan ever since he burst onto the scene some years ago. He has a different bowling action, he pushes the ball in and can swing the ball both ways," Brett Lee said while speaking on Star Sports show Game Plan.

"He is good with the new ball but I like him with the old ball and that's why he can fill the shoes of Malinga and can bowl at the death overs. He can bowl at 140kmph and zoom the ball in at the batsman's feet. He is bowling yorkers consistently and there are very few bowlers like that, so he can fill those shoes," he added.

CSK have a good chance to win IPL 2020 because of their spin attack: Brett Lee

Lee is also of the opinion that CSK will win the 2020 IPL season because of the variety in their spin attack.

Brett Lee is of the opinion that CSK are the favourties to win the IPL 2020 trophy. This is because of the variety of spin options that they have in their ranks. Spinners like Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir and Piyush Chawla will be more than handy on the slow and turning wickets in the UAE. CSK also have many wicket-taking options in the middle-overs, which makes their case stronger.

"I have picked them to win and I think CSK have a good chance because of their spin attack. With (Mitchell) Santner, (Ravindra) Jadeja needs to step up and be the number one spinner. CSK have got great variety and none of the spinners are the same, so they are at an advantage for the conditions in the UAE as the tournament progresses," Brett Lee said.

The Mumbai Indians will face the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020's curtain-raiser on 19th September at Abu Dhabi.