Jasprit Bumrah (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is going through an uncharacteristic lean patch in IPL 2026. Known for troubling the best batsmen in the world, Bumrah has been dismantled this season and has been doing little. In five matches so far, he has conceded 164 runs without conceding a wicket at an economy rate of 8.63.A turnaround was expected against Punjab Kings but the struggles continued as he returned figures of 0/41. The frustration was visible, Bumrah was seen in a viral video picking up his marker after his over and hurling it angrily.
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Shreyas Iyer’s Masterclass and Arshdeep Singh’s Return! PBKS reveal a winning formula Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan also analyzed Bumrah’s dip in form on his YouTube channel and pointed out a possible reason. He highlighted the overuse of the slower deliveries by the Mumbai Indians, who are spearheads.“Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling wickets are very important. There is no major problem with his form but his average speed this season has been around 130 kmph. He has used the slower ball about 44 per cent of the time, which means almost every other ball is slower,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.“Why is Jasprit Bumrah doing this now? I think it needs a deeper look. If he bowls more fast deliveries and reduces the percentage of slower balls, the results will come. It’s a very simple solution. Bumrah doesn’t need coaching, but the numbers show what’s going on,” he added.
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Mahela Jayawardene on bad bowling, combinations and team issues “A 44 per cent slower ball and an average speed under 130 km/h means he needs to pick up the pace. Obviously, if you bowl slower, your average speed will go down. But if you get the percentage of slower balls down to about 35 per cent. If you keep it around 30 to 35 per cent and bowl faster deliveries, your slower balls become more effective. And if you bowl, you can also get bats and get bats swing,” said Pathan.Mumbai Indians have now slipped to their fourth straight defeat of the season and are ninth in the points table. They will next face Gujarat Titans on April 20.
