Trent Boult is not a powerplay specialist anymore.
Mumbai Indians (MI) were forced to bench Trent Boult in the previous game since they wanted an extra all-rounder in Hardik Pandya’s absence. As a result, MI included Corbin Bosch, while Deepak Chahar played to give that bowling option. While Hardik’s expected to return, MI should persist with Bosch over Boult against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
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Boult is no longer a powerplay specialist, and Mumbai Indians haven’t used him with the new ball enough either. Since last season, he has bowled only 50.48% of total overs in the powerplay, where he has 10 wickets at an average of 26.80 and an economy rate of 8.65. For the record, the left-arm pacer bowled 71.42% of total overs inside the field restrictions only in 2024, snaring 12 wickets at 22.25 runs apiece and conceding only 7.03 runs per over.
Unlike before, Trent Boult doesn’t move the new ball enough, and his focus has shifted massively to bowling defensive lengths right from the start. So, the idea has been to use him with the old ball, and his number of overs in the second half of the innings has surged to 47.80% since 2025. In this phase, Boult has taken 12 wickets at 23.08 runs apiece and conceded 9.34 runs per over.
A notable aspect has been his overreliance on yorkers; he has attempted around 51.07% of yorkers in the second half of the innings since last season. However, he has found success only 21.05% of the time, and ended up bowling around 41.05% of full-tosses and 37.89% half-volleys. Those half-volleys and yorkers have been arduous to hit, while full tosses have gone for 11.35 runs per over.
His poor control has made him too vulnerable, and since he doesn’t have a good short ball, Trent Boult remains expensive most of the time. There’s a reason why his economy rate in death overs has been 10.75 in all T20s this year. His issues will only exacerbate moving forward because the pitches have mostly been flat, and he doesn’t bowl enough into the pitch.
Corbin Bosch has developed massively as a bowler, and his old-ball skills are better than Boult’s at the moment. Across international and franchise cricket, he has bowled around 59.25% of overs after the 10th over mark this year and generated a sense of understanding about how to construct sets. In slog overs, he has conceded just 8.31 runs per over and a boundary every 6.40 deliveries.
As was visible at the T20 World Cup 2026, Bosch mixes his fuller ones well with shorter deliveries and doesn’t specifically rely on slower ones. In fact, he bowled only 5.15% slower balls and went on to generate reverse on 26.80% balls in the second half of the innings. His idea throughout the tournament remained to bowl wider lines and allow the ball to go away RHBs, while cramping LHBs with ultra-straight lines.
This strategy might work well against Rajasthan Royals (RR), who have a slightly weaker lower order. Donovan Ferreira brings immense power, but has still been settling in and might need some more time on these pitches, while Ravindra Jadeja’s hitting is at an all-time low and has shown regression against pace in the lower order. Shimron Hetmyer, who will bat above these two, can have issues with well-directed bouncers into the body at times.
So, Bosch has the advantage since those are his natural lengths, and he can bowl heavy balls at a high pace. He also adds the batting depth and will allow Mumbai Indians batters to go more freely from the top. His presence means MI get a lot more flexibility.
As for the new-ball movement, Deepak Chahar can extract it and can be frontloaded in the powerplay, a role he has accomplished before in the league. Shardul Thakur can also move the new ball and can share the new-ball workload, along with an over of Jasprit Bumrah. Since Boult is not a powerplay specialist anymore, Mumbai Indians must prefer Bosch, who brings greater control with the ball and batting value.
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