IPL 2021: “A lot better than last year, I think I went for about 55 last year!” – Nathan Coulter-Nile on MI return

Nathan Coulter-Nile was satisfied with his return to the Mumbai Indians starting eleven on Thursday, where he helped his side to a seven-wicket win against the Rajasthan Royals. The Australian pacer admitted that bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult made his life easier and expressed his delight at improving on his debut showing from last year.

The Mumbai Indians pacer made his first appearance of IPL 2021 after recovering from a niggle. Nathan Coulter-Nile suffered an unfortunate calf injury while skipping during his first day in quarantine and had been out of action since.

He spoke to Jasprit Bumrah after returning to the playing eleven, and the Indian spearhead asked Nathan Coulter-Nile how it felt to play his first game of the season.

“A lot better than last year, I think I went for about 55 last year! Had a bit of cricket under my belt this year, so felt a bit more comfortable coming in. Obviously having you and Boulty (Trent Boult) bowl at the end helps me out a lot because you guys hit the hole pretty well. But the body is feeling good, hopefully, quick recovery and back into it in a couple of days,” Coulter-Nile said.

Today's game summed up in pictures 🤩💙 https://t.co/ofWIb0q9kk

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 29, 2021

Nathan Coulter-Nile had a solid if not impressive showing after returning to the field. The 33-year-old kept it tight during the middle overs after going for 14 in his first over but lost his line again while bowling the 20th. But it could all have been very different for Nathan Coulter-Nile, with Rohit Sharma dropping a catch off his bowling in the final over as he finished with figures of 0/35 from his four.

Also see: IPL best bowling figures

The Mumbai Indians speed gun admitted he could have done better on the day, but is looking forward to building on his performances this season.

“I try and keep it simple. It is just another game of cricket. I just try to come in here and enjoy it. I don’t think it really matters if it is your first game, or you have played 100 in a row like yourself. But I always try and come in and execute my skills to the best of my abilities. Sometimes it doesn’t go to plan like today, but if I keep doing it, eventually it will pick up for me and hopefully the more I play the better I will get,” Nathan Coulter-Nile reflected.

Nathan Coulter-Nile asks Bumrah to share the secret of his death-overs prowess

Nailing the yorkers 👌Making a comeback 👍Returning to winning ways 👏The pace-bowling duo of @Jaspritbumrah93 & Nathan Coulter-Nile chat up after @mipaltan's win in Delhi.😎😎 - By @ameyatilak #VIVOIPL #MIvRRWatch the full interview 🎥 👇https://t.co/dXbVdkmwAl pic.twitter.com/KAIMf0sU5v

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2021

Widely regarded as the premier death bowler in the game, Jasprit Bumrah was at it again against RR. The Indian pace battery registered figures of 1/15 in his four overs and was once again supremely accurate with his yorkers at the death. Seeing Bumrah nail his yorkers, Nathan Coulter-Nile asked the Indian pacer to share the secret behind his success.

“So, a lot of homework goes into the preparation. I try to put myself under a lot of pressure during training. I try to bowl to the batters who hit yorkers well. That helps me be in a very good space when I bowl at the death. I just try to keep things simple, quickly assessing the situation and trying to analyze the wicket, trying to keep it as simple as possible. That was the plan, I was trying to do that and it was a good day and it worked,” Bumrah concluded.

Mumbai Indians snapped out of their two-game losing streak and returned to winning ways with a clinical performance against Rajasthan. They will now face fierce rivals Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, with CSK on a five-game winning run.