Head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Thursday backed Jasprit Bumrah despite the pace ace going wicketless in five matches on the trot, but rued Mumbai Indians’ general ineffectiveness with the ball, especially in the PowerPlay.

Bumrah was smacked for 41 runs in four overs as Punjab Kings chased down the target of 196 with 21 balls and seven wickets to spare in their Indian Premier League (IPL) contest in Mumbai on Thursday.

“Bumrah is bowling well, it is just where we are not putting pressure in the PowerPlay,” Jayawardene told reporters after the match.

“They (opposition) know they don’t need to take too much risk against Bumrah. We tried a few different things, which he is trying as well, but they are batting well. I can’t put a finger (on something) and say that he hasn’t taken a wicket.”

The former Sri Lankan captain revealed that Bumrah carried a niggle at the start of the IPL 2026 but has pulled up well since.

“I think initially because he had a slight niggle which came from the World Cup,” he replied to a query on Bumrah’s inconsistent pace.

“We wanted to build him up (and) over the last few games, his speed has gone up. We’ve looked at all that, so he’s very comfortable. Sometimes, you need a bit of luck as well. (Bumrah) Bowled some really good balls initially to Shreyas (Iyer), but wasn’t lucky enough. Once he starts taking wickets, he might not be able to stop him doing that,” Jayawardene added.

However, Jayawardene did not dismiss the fact that the MI bowlers lacked the precision so far this season.

“But as a (bowling) unit, like I said before, we’ve lacked that penetration in different surfaces and that’s something that we need to work (on) and see what we need to do,” he said.

The head coach said Rohit Sharma’s injury is not serious and the team management doesn’t want to push him as it is “still early stages” of the tournament.

“He started running yesterday (Wednesday), he batted (as well)… taking it day to day to see how he feels. He knows his body better than anybody else. It’s nothing serious, but at the same time, we don’t want to push and it’s early season still, so the medical staff will take that call,” he said.

Jayawardene refused to accept that skipper Hardik Pandya was under pressure with MI losing its fourth match in a row.

“I don’t think it’s just on Hardik, it’s on every one of us. When we’re not doing well, it’s not an individual, it’s pretty much on me, everyone who’s involved in the management to see how can we be better,” he said.

“I know we’re playing good cricket — we’re not taken out completely — but at the same time the other teams are much better, clinical, (and) obviously the confidence is high as well when they have that kind of start,” he added, referring to Arshdeep Singh’s twin strikes that reduced MI to 15 for two at early on.

Jayawardene said it was a tactical call to pair up Quinton de Kock (112) and Ryan Rickelton for the first wicket.

“We do have an Indian opener (as) backup. But the things I have had to go through from yesterday (Wednesday) to today with the illnesses in our group and trying to get the right combination, is something which only I’m privy to,” he said.

“… we’ve had quite a few unfortunate injuries, illnesses within the camp (and because of) that we’ve not been able to get everyone on the park,” he added.

Jayawardene also rued MI losing momentum towards the end with the bat, along with Deepak Chahar’s 21-run first over.

“Quinny (de Kock) batted exceptionally, and it was a good partnership. At the end, we lost a little bit of rhythm; they bowled well to pull it back. I was hoping that we could get to that 210-220 mark if we had a couple of big overs,” he said.

“Losing momentum at the back end, as well as not setting the tone in that first over, probably put us back. (It was) another big over upfront. These are areas that we needed to be sharper (in) and execution-wise it was quite poor,” Jayawardene added.

Published on Apr 17, 2026