In the cutthroat ecosystem of the IPL, where a bowler is often only as good as his last four games, even a titan like Jasprit Bumrah is finding that past glories offer little shelter from the modern storm. At the Wankhede on Wednesday night, the man widely regarded as the best in the world looked surprisingly human.
After Bumrah was dismantled by a relentless SunRisers Hyderabad – conceding 54 runs in a wicketless spell – Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard stepped in to act as a human shield. His postgame message was a rare appeal to a prospect in a league that rarely provides it: “He’s allowed to have a bad day and he’s allowed to have a bad season.”
Tasked with defending a massive 245, Mumbai looked to their spearhead to kill the match early. Instead, The SRH openers treated Bumrah with disrespect which bordered on surrealism. In the second over, he was immediately targeted by Abhishek Sharma, who sent him deep into the stands. At the end of his second over, Bumrah conceded 32 runs, helpless against 92 runs in the opening stand of Travis Head and Abhishek.
Discomfort haunted him until the fatal operations. Usually a yorker master, Bumrah struggled with his lengths and lines. Heinrich Klaasen punished him for a towering six in the 14th over and the ultimate outrage came in the 18th over when youngster Salil Arora cleared the boundary with ease. With final figures of 0/54, it was a performance that hinted at a bowler who is not just out of rhythm, but perhaps out of gas.
STATISTICAL ANOMALY
The numbers for IPL 2026 are appalling. In eight games Bumrah managed only two wicketslanguishing with an average of 132 and an economy of 8.80. For a player who has consistently broken the 15-goal mark every season since 2016, the relegation is a real shock.
Given his heroics in the recent T20 World Cup, where his four-wicket haul against New Zealand clinched the trophy for India, it is a mystery. Whether it’s the physical toll of this campaign or the mental fatigue of MI’s struggling attack, the spark is missing at the moment.
BUMRAH’S RIGHT TO FAIL?
Turning to the media, Pollard moved beyond tactical analysis to deliver an impassioned defense of his teammate’s right to fail.
“Again, when a cricketer doesn’t do well, we look at every single aspect of why he doesn’t do well. And Jasprit Bumrah is no different, okay? He’s been doing it for years,” Pollard said.
“He also has the right as a human being to make mistakes, not have a good day, not have a good season, not have a good couple of months. And I just feel like sometimes we need to be reminded of the good things that he’s done.”
Pollard emphasized the unique, exposed nature of the profession.
“Yes, we try to live in the present and he hasn’t. But he was still the number one player for Mumbai Indians and India for a period of time. So I just feel that sometimes we cricketers can take a bit off because, as I always say, we have the misfortune of always being in the public eye.”
He drew a stark parallel to life outside the border ropes.
“When normal people have a job and they send the wrong email, they have the ability to edit the words and all that stuff. We don’t have that option. So it’s fair and okay – when you don’t do well, you accept certain things. And knowing the man, I know he’ll bounce back and take wickets. And we’ll sing just for Indu, but ‘Bumbarah, not for Indu,’ so no again. Let’s cut him some slack and see if he likes it. helped too—if we see something good written about him.’
In a surprise, Jasprit Bumrah had his worst outing of the season so far, despite a week’s layoff. The pace spearhead will once again be in the limelight when Mumbai Indians take on Chennai Super Kings in a crucial match at Chepauk on Saturday, May 2.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
30 Apr 2026 09:18 IST
