Tom Moody critical of Delhi's decision to 'gift' Trent Boult to 'strongest side' Mumbai

With defending champions Mumbai dominating the IPL 2020 league stages and reaching yet another final of the tournament, the Rohit Sharma-led side has rarely had a squad with spaces to fill. Comprising of several key players, their squad selection has been on-point, and the man-management skills of skipper Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Mahela Jayawardane have certainly reaped benefits for the franchise. This year, the Mumbai squad brought in New Zealand speedster Trent Boult to strengthen their pace battery and the decision has proved to be instrumental in the franchise's road to the finale. 

Reflecting upon Mumbai's decision to bring in Trent Boult, former Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has been critical of Delhi's decision to trade the Kiwi talisman to one of the strongest sides of the tournament. Boult was a part of the Delhi franchise for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after being bought for Rs 2.2 crores. Opining of Delhi's decision to trade Boult to Mumbai, Moody said that it is 'extraordinary' adding that Delhi should have let the Kiwi speedster out in auction and not trade him. 

'Extraordinary move'

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Moody said, "To me that was an extraordinary move. And I know that at that point at that trade, they didn’t know that the tournament was going to move to the UAE. But even so, Trent Boult would be deadly in Mumbai because that is one venue where the ball would swing." 

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“And Boult is one of the best powerplay bowlers in the IPL so to gift him to one of the strongest teams, if not the strongest team of the whole tournament, an ace like that, it’s extraordinary. If they were wanting to cash their chips in so to speak with Trent Boult, they should have just done it through the auction and let not only Mumbai but other teams fish around for Trent Boult,” he added.

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Teaming up with Jasprit Bumrah and James Pattinson, Boult has been deadly with the new ball, often scalping early wickets within the powerplay. The Kiwi pacer has picked up 22 wickets so far in the IPL 2020 with an economy of 8.55. His best figures in this year's edition of the IPL read 4/18. After defeating Delhi in Qualifier 1, Mumbai are set to face the winner of Qualifier 2 between Delhi and Hyderabad, in the IPL 2020 finale on Tuesday. 

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The former Australian cricketer also heaped praise on Mumbai finisher Hardik Pandya, calling him a 'rare' player. “Finishers like him are rare, and when he’s in that type of form, you’d pick him every day of the week because players that can put a finishing touch like he did – took the score from what we thought was going to be 170, 175 range – it’s game over. That is an impactful moment in the game, even though he was out there for only 14 balls,” Moody said.

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