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Mumbai Indians’ (MI) pace bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s wicketless run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 continued against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). After MI’s hat-trick of losses, questions were being raised about Bumrah’s form. Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin explained why Bumrah's job of nailing yorkers and stemming the flow of runs is more important than him looking for wickets as he doesn’t bowl all his overs up front.
"The lack of wickets narrative for Bumrah can hamper the teams cause! Him nailing yorkers and choking the opposition for every single run is even more important than him looking to get wickets, especially in venues like the Wankhede", wrote Ashwin on X.
"When you can’t bowl overs on the trot, your wicket taking ability depends on your partners who hand the over to you.
"We have had so many years of T 20 cricket now & bowling in partnerships as a defensive group is still a seed in the minds of bowling groups. Malinga nailed it, when he spoke during the 10th over mark", he added.
While RCB set a target of 241, Bumrah was MI's most economical bowler, conceding 35 runs from his quota of four overs. In the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition, he has conceded 123 runs from 15 overs with economy rate of 8.20 runs per over.
Steyn backs Bumrah
Bumrah has got support from South Africa pace legend Dale Steyn as well. Steyn feels that the MI pacer put on a show in a high-scoring game at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
“You’d take those figures every day of the week, in this total. He has put on a show tonight with all his skills, his yorker in particular has been fantastic. Yes, he has missed his length on occasion, but you don’t see that often from him,” Steyn said on Star Sports.
Pandya looking for a change
Against RCB, Bumrah was introduced into the attack in the fourth over. He brought down the possibility of RCB scoring close to 90 in the powerplay overs. But, skipper Hardik Pandya intends to have options in place in both and batting in the powerplay to get some momentum.
“That’s what we are planning and talking about, how do we get some momentum in powerplay. Because if you see, in both batting and bowling, we are kind of trying to catch up in the powerplay. As you said, a lot of options will be asked and thrown. We will see what we can do in the next game,” the all-rounder said after the defeat.
The 32-year-old pacer will be seen in action against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the same venue on April 16, searching for his first wicket of IPL 2026.
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