The 22-year-old Assam lad has successfully translated his red-hot form in domestic cricket into the IPL, scoring two match-winning fifties to help the Royals maintain their unbeaten run in the tournament so far, with the latest coming against Mumbai Indians on Monday.
The performance of left-arm Australian pacer Daniel Sams, who took three wickets for 16 runs against Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, impressed the former New Zealand pace bowler. Mumbai Indians chased down the target in the 15th over for the loss of five wickets.
Bond said that no team can be so consistent as Mumbai Indians if their bowling department is weak.
Rahul has been in terrific form in the ongoing competition, having scored 222 runs in three innings and currently sits at the top of the list of leading run getters
In the recent three-match ODI series against New Zealand, Bumrah remained wicketless and conceded a total of 167 runs in the 30 overs he bowled.
Five-time World Cup winners Australia is the only team to have booked a semi-final place in this tournament. The Kiwis, meanwhile, are one point away from a confirmed place in the semis.
Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has his eyes trained on an IPL head coach's job.
He feels bowlers coming off the event will face the challenge of adjusting to increased workload in the Champions Trophy.
Shane Bond gave the example of Sri Lanka's out-of-form pacer Lasith Malinga.
The 23-year-old bowler Bumrah has taken 9 wickets in 8 IPL games this season.
