There has been news of absence of Jasprit Bumrah from the Mumbai Indians camp before taking the field against Kolkata Knight Riders in the first match of IPL 2026. World number one bowler Jasprit Bumrah was nowhere to be seen in the team’s mandatory practice session held at Wankhede Stadium. Bumrah’s absence from the team just before the big match on Sunday has become a matter of concern for the management and fans.
Jasprit Bumrah is not currently with his team in Mumbai, rather he is staying at the ‘Centre of Excellence’ (CoE) in Bengaluru. There he is working on strengthening his body and improving his fitness. Although this is a normal process but his stay there just before the start of IPL is raising many questions. Bumrah bowled consistently fast during the T20 World Cup, so now experts are checking his fitness.
Hindustan Times According to a report, not only Bumrah, two other match-winning players of the team were also not seen during practice. New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner and England’s batsman Will Jacques also did not attend this important training session. These three big players not coming together for practice can spoil the planning of the initial team of Mumbai Indians.
Despite the lack of big bowlers, the rest of the old players of the team sweated a lot on the field. Rohit Sharma faced Shardul Thakur’s balls in the nets and tried to return to his old form. Captain Hardik Pandya also practiced hard in both batting and bowling. Along with him, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma laid full emphasis on hitting sixes across the boundary.
New players in the team Danish Malewar, Ashwini Kumar and Mohammad Izhar were also seen preparing under the supervision of the coach. South Africa’s Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton also spent a lot of time in the nets. Deepak Chahar also practiced his swing bowling. Now it remains to be seen whether Bumrah, Santner and Jacques take the field against a strong team like KKR or not.
