Former Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu has highlighted the major weakness of Mumbai Indians (MI) and the ineffectiveness of Jasprit Bumrah in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026).
Mumbai Indians entered IPL 2026 with huge expectations from their superstar Jasprit Bumrah, but the first week of this season has exposed an unexpected weakness of the five-time champions.
Jasprit Bumrah’s magic in IPL 2026
Even though MI defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their season opener, Jasprit Bumrah’s form has become a major talking point, and the concerns grew even more after his crushing defeat against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 4.
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After MI’s six-wicket loss to DC, Bumrah’s magic has once again come under criticism. He was easily MI’s most economical bowler, conceding only 21 runs in 4 overs at an impressive economy of 5.25. But for the second consecutive match, Bumrah failed to take even a single wicket.
DC’s defeat has increased MI’s troubles in IPL 2026
Samir Rizvi, who scored a blistering 90 off 51 balls, led DC’s successful chase, and David Miller calmly led the innings with an unbeaten 21. The point of concern for MI came when DC conceded 11 runs off Bumrah’s final over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Even before this match, Jasprit Bumrah had not got any wicket in the opening match of the season against KKR and had given 35 runs in 4 overs at an economy of 8.75. His expensive final overs have become a worrying pattern this season. Bumrah has not got enough support during the death overs with Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Corbin Bosch also giving away runs under pressure.
Jasprit Bumrah is not at his best: Ambati Rayudu
After the DC vs MI match in Delhi, Ambati Rayudu has said that Bumrah is not at his best. The cricket pundit said that the MI star’s yorkers are not landing consistently and his pace has reduced, which has allowed the batsmen to play with more confidence in the tournament.
Ambati Rayudu said on ESPN Cricinfo, “If you look at MI’s bowling, I think the one area where they can improve is death bowling. And even Bumrah is missing his yorkers, and even his fast balls are just 130 kmph. So, will people play on their reputation or play what is in front of them? That is a question that will be very interesting to watch. Because he is definitely not at his best.
He is bowling good slower balls, but his pace is definitely down. And also it remains to be seen who will be his bowling partner in the death overs. This is an area where I haven’t seen him be very convincing this season. So, you know, someone who can play that role.”
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We were a little short: Suryakumar Yadav
Despite this, MI stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav has defended his bowlers by saying that they were 15-20 runs behind the target which could trouble the DC batsmen in Delhi. The five-time champion team could score only 162 runs and Delhi achieved the target in 18.1 overs.
“We expected the wicket to be a little slow, but still from a batting point of view, we were a little short, 15-20 runs, but I don’t want to take away any credit from their bowlers, and also, they batted really well in the second innings,” Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
