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Jasprit Bumrah's IPL 2026 Nightmare Deepens After MI vs LSG
5 May 2026, 2:02 pm
Bumrah's Season-Long Wicket Drought Continues
Jasprit Bumrah walked off the Wankhede Stadium on Monday night without a wicket to his name for the sixth time in ten IPL 2026 appearances. His figures against Lucknow Super Giants were 0 for 45, and at one stage he overstepped three times in a single innings, handing batters free hits and allowing Himmat Singh to survive a caught-behind chance on two. Across ten matches this season, Bumrah has picked up just two wickets at a bowling average of 132, numbers that belong to a replacement-level bowler rather than one widely regarded as the best fast bowler on the planet in any format.
Gavaskar Goes Public With His Frustration
Sunil Gavaskar did not hold back during the broadcast. Speaking after Bumrah's third no-ball of the innings, Gavaskar called out the pacer directly. ""This is not acceptable. You are a professional cricketer. A wide, I can understand, but bowling a no-ball is clearly not acceptable,"" he said. The criticism landed hard given that Gavaskar has typically been one of the more measured voices around the Indian team. His public frustration signals just how far outside normal parameters Bumrah's IPL 2026 campaign has drifted.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has also suggested that Bumrah may not be fully fit, pointing to changes in body language, rhythm, and delivery speed that do not match his peak performances. Kris Srikkanth went further, advising Bumrah to watch Jofra Archer, who has been outstanding this season with 15 wickets in nine games, and rediscover the discipline of hitting the top of the off stump at full pace rather than defaulting to short-pitched slower deliveries.
What Has Changed and What Can Be Fixed
Before IPL 2026, Bumrah had been in exceptional form. He was the joint-highest wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup in March, claiming 14 scalps in eight games and winning the Player of the Match award in the final against New Zealand. That form now feels distant. His pace has dropped, his yorkers are misfiring, and his slower ball, previously a wicket-taking weapon, is landing short and disappearing for boundaries. Batters who historically never touched him, including Travis Head and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, have hit him for multiple sixes in recent games.
The timing matters. Mumbai Indians are in a desperate playoff push and Bumrah is their most experienced match-winner. If he cannot rediscover his rhythm quickly, their hopes of making the top four from six points will rely almost entirely on the batting of Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton.