Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians has not been able to take wickets in the last 5 IPL matches. This is the longest wicket-drought of his career (122 balls). The reasons for this are believed to be Hardik’s captaincy, alertness of the batsmen and excessive experimentation.
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians star bowler Jasprit Bumrah is going through the strangest phase of his IPL career. Bumrah has not taken a single wicket in the last five IPL matches. This drought of wickets started in the last match of the 2025 season and continues after four matches of the 2026 IPL. This is the first time in his decade-long IPL career that Bumrah has not been able to take any wicket for such a long period (122 balls).
Bumrah shone with 14 wickets in the T20 World Cup.
What happened to Bumrah, who played an important role in India’s victory by taking 14 wickets in the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup and was the ‘Man of the Match’ in the final, in the blue jersey of Mumbai? Fans are surprised about this. Mainly three reasons are believed to be behind this wicket drought of Bumrah. The first reason for this is the strategy of captain Hardik Pandya.
These are 3 interesting reasons for Bumrah not taking wickets
Critics say that captain Hardik Pandya does not have any clear plan to use Bumrah. In every match, he is being made to bowl different overs. For example, in Mumbai’s first match against Kolkata, Bumrah bowled the 5th, 12th, 18th and 20th overs. But, against RCB he bowled the fourth, sixth, 17th and 19th overs. Experts believe that this uncertainty is spoiling Bumrah’s rhythm. When Suryakumar Yadav was captaining the Indian team, he used to give a clear responsibility to Bumrah.
The second reason is that the batsmen of the opposition team are not taking any risk in Bumrah’s overs. They are playing cautiously by saving wickets. His strategy is to take out Bumrah’s overs and attack the other bowlers, and it is also succeeding. This is also a reason why Bumrah is not getting wickets.
The third reason, according to Mumbai bowling coach Lasith Malinga, is that in a hurry to take wickets, other bowlers including Bumrah are trying too many variations. Instead of relying on their main weapon, the ‘stock ball’, they are experimenting more, which is reducing their chances of getting wickets.
However, experienced player Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the Mumbai team should not be too worried about Bumrah not taking wickets. Ashwin wrote on ‘X’, “In T20 cricket, it is more important to stop runs than take wickets.” According to him, Bumrah’s bowling of accurate yorkers and keeping the batsmen tied is more important than taking wickets. Stopping runs in a stadium like Wankhede is a big challenge in itself.
Due to Bumrah’s poor form and Hardik’s captaincy shortcomings, Mumbai Indians have slipped to eighth place in the points table. The team has won only one out of the four matches played. Fans fear that if Bumrah does not return to form in the coming matches, Mumbai may have to give up the dream of play-offs. Will Bumrah, who has taken a total of 183 wickets in IPL, be able to end his wicket drought in the match against Punjab Kings on 16th April? Everyone is waiting for this.