When did Jasprit Bumrah last go wicketless for five matches? As Mumbai Indians slumped to their fourth defeat in five matches of the IPL 2026 on Thursday (against Punjab Kings), their dugout will be seriously concerned at the premier fast bowler failing to provide the breakthroughs they relied on so heavily over the years.
The alltime wicket-taker for the five-time champions – with 183 wickets under his belt over a long period between 2013 and 2025 – has looked somewhat innocuous as he is enduring the longest wicketless streak of IPL career. What’s more, he has conceded 164 runs in 19 overs so far at an economy rate of 8.63 so far – his worst since his initial years in the league.
Add to this the hamstring injury of Rohit Sharma, which made him sit out against Punjab Kings during their seven-wicket defeat, the abysmal form of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma – making their batting line-up look an unsettled one despite Quinton de Kock’s fiery 112 off 60 balls. A sequence of four defeats on the trot, after beginning on a promising note of a rare win in their opener, seems to have turned the heat on captain Hardik Pandya again.
What is it that’s going wrong with the biggest match-winner in Indian cricket over the last decade? A closer look reveals that the aura which the combination of Boom Boom and Trent Boult used to cast on rival batters, especially in the powerplay, is missing this season as neither the Kiwi veteran nor Deepak Chahar has been able to provide the support to their main wicket taker. While someone like Vaibhav Suryavanshi decided to take him on during MI’s match against Rajasthan Royals, other openers are looking to play out his initial two overs conservatively before opening up.
Replying to a query on Bumrah’s form, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene broke it down: ‘’ I think Booms (Bumrah) is bowling well; it’s just that we’re not putting pressure in the powerplay. They know they don’t need to take too much risk against Booms, and while we’ve tried a few different things, which he is trying as well, the opposition is batting well. I can’t quite put a finger on it and say he hasn’t taken wickets for a specific reason, but as a unit, we’ve lacked that penetration on different surfaces. That is something we need to work on.’’
The lack of support could be an issue alright, but the lurking fears which always crop in during any lean run of Bumrah – largely because of the high benchmark he has set for himself – is whether he had been holding back himself. During the post-match interaction with the media, Jayawardene mentioned that Bumrah had started the season with a slight niggle, leading to a marginally reduced pace in initial games as they looked to build him up gradually.
Exclusive: How Bumrah’s alma mater and mother combined to fuel a dream‘’I think initially because he had a slight niggle… we wanted to build him up, over the last few games his speeds have gone up, we’ve looked at all that, so he’s very comfortable. Sometimes you need a bit of luck as well: the other [bowler] is taking a few wickets and then he gets some match-ups which he’s very comfortable, very good. [He] bowled some really good balls initially to Shreyas [Iyer] as well, wasn’t lucky enough. I think once he starts taking wickets, might not be able to stop him doing that,’’ the former Sri Lankan captain said.
There is another question as to whether Bumrah’s over reliance on slower deliveries had been predictable for the batters. Irfan Pathan, now a TV pundit, noted that nearly 45% of Bumrah’s deliveries have been slower balls (around 130 kmph) which is making it easier for the batters to read him.
