Jasprit Bumrah reacted cheekily after being named the captain of Mumbai Indians ahead of their clash with Punjab Kings on Thursday, May 14.
Bumrah, who stepped in as captain in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, joked that he did not expect to become India’s Test captain before leading Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
PBKS vs MI, IPL 2026: Update
Mumbai Indians announced Bumrah as captain moments before the toss. Temper became only the 10th player to captain a franchise in IPL history and the third different MI captain this season.
BOMBAY INDIANS – LIST OF CAPTAINS
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Shaun Pollock
- DJ Bravo
- Harbhajan Singh
- Ricky Ponting
- Rohit Sharma
- Kieron Pollard
- Hardik Pandya
- Suryakumar Yadav
- jasprit bumrah
Reacting to the appointment, Bumrah said he is enjoying the added responsibility and sees it as a new challenge.
“It feels good. I came here as a 19-year-old. I didn’t think I would be a Test captain before I became the MI captain,” Bumrah said with a smile.
“I like the responsibility, it’s a new challenge and I’ll be looking to have fun. As much as we can, we’ve got three games left and we want to enjoy ourselves and maybe shake up a few teams,” he added.
Despite being regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket, Bumrah has endured a relatively quiet IPL 2026 season so far, taking just three wickets in 12 matches.
The numbers mark a rare drop for the star pacer, who only recently produced some of the best performances of his T20 career during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Bumrah played a key role in India’s campaign with exceptional spells in both the semi-finals and the final.
Bumrah, who led MI on Thursday, reverted to more traditional bowling phases. He played two overs in the over and was unlucky not to claim a wicket after forcing Prabhsimran Singh for an edge that was dropped by Naman Dhir at first slip.
The fast bowler later completed two overs at the death to cap off an impressive spell under his own captaincy.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
14 May 2026 20:58 IST
