Coach MI Jayawardene Explains Bumrah, Surya, Tilak Slump Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene struck a calm and reassuring tone at the post-match press conference, backing his senior players and urging patience as Mumbai Indians navigate through the tough phase of IPL 2026.The performance of the Mumbai Indians (MI) key trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma has been a major talking point in IPL 2026 as the team is struggling at the bottom of the points table. Suryakumar Yadav is enduring a tough run in IPL 2026 for Mumbai Indians (MI), after his record-breaking 2025 season where he scored 717 runs. Despite the high expectations surrounding India’s T20 World Cup captain. In 9 matches Surya has just scored 183 runs. Jayawardene dismissed concerns over Suryakumar Yadav’s recent comebacks and insisted the flamboyant batsman is not far from rediscovering his best touch.“I don’t think his performance is going down; if he puts a couple of scores together I think he’ll find that rhythm. He bowled really well for the time today, he really took on the bowlers at that stage. I think a few more overs he could have made a really good score. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, he doesn’t fit; I think that was a pretty good shot, he definitely went straight to the fielder. He didn’t work as many times this season as he was caught on the boundary with some of those shots, it’s just a matter of time, but I think he himself is disappointed, but he has to continue to work harder,” he said. Tilak Varma’s IPL 2026 campaign was defined by a historic individual performance amid a season of otherwise meager contributions. On 20 April, Tilak smashed an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls against Gujarat Titans. Apart from the Century, Tilak has not made any contribution for MI this season. Jayawardene also spoke about the development of young batsman Tilak Varma,“Tilak Varma is also still learning and playing different roles that he has been asked to play. T20 cricket is not that easy, I think the more he plays different situations, he will understand what he needs to do… handling situations, being a bit more proactive in thinking about what we need to do in those situations is something he will find,” asserted Jayawardene.Commenting on the team’s bowling woes, Jayawardene made it clear that the onus is not solely on Jasprit Bumrah, who endured several wicketless outings.“It’s not just the Booms; it’s the collective effort of all the bowlers. When everyone works together and you pick up wickets here and there, it also helps Bumrah to be a bit more aggressive than doing tribute work. Everyone tends to have a slow season, but the class is always permanent,” he pointed out.
