India’s pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah ended his wicketless run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with the wicket of Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Sai Sudharsan. The wicket came off the first ball of GT’s innings. Of late, MI captain Hardik Pandya has been criticising for not starting the bowling with Bumrah. While Bumrah did the job with the new ball, Pandya came prepared with statistics, telling his captaincy’s critics that the pacer hasn’t opened the bowling regularly in his T20 career. He also lauded Pandya’s versatility as he answers the captain’s call at any stage of the game.
“Yeah, it’s quite fascinating. I’ve seen a lot of people go, why Jassie has never bowled… But if you see, it’s been 138 [151] appearances and I think 8 or 9 times Jasprit has bowled the first over. So I don’t think it’s a Hardik Pandya problem. It’s just that Jasprit Bumrah is so special that you use him wherever it’s required for the team, not when you start,” Pandya said in the post-match presentation.
However, Pandya did admit that there was a need to make an impact with the new ball straightaway, especially considering GT’s top order.
“So, but yeah, today was something we realized - that we really want to make an impact with the new ball, and no one’s better than him,” Pandya added.
Titans bowled out for 100
After Bumrah sent Sudharsan back to the pavilion for a golden duck, GT's top-order suffered a collapse. Skipper Gill and Jos Buttler fell cheaply. Then, Ashwani Kumar preyed on GT batting lineup, registering a four-wicket haul. Overseas spinners Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar claimed two wickets each as well, bowling out GT for 100 in 15.5 overs. Bumrah bowled three overs, conceded 15 runs and bagged one wicket.
Bumrah vs Samson in Mumbai
MI ended their winless run in the IPL 2026. They will go up against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their next clash at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. It will be interesting to see whether Bumrah bowls the first over against Sanju Samson and looks to make an immediate impact like he did against GT.