Former India and Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has come out in defence of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has been having a tough time in IPL 2026.
Just like Bumrah, the Mumbai Indians have been struggling for form and have already been eliminated from the IPL season with three matches to go. On Sunday, MI’s loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Raipur formally eliminated them from playoffs contention in this tournament.
Jasprit Bumrah in IPL 2026
After a productive campaign in the T20 World Cup in March, Jasprit Bumrah has found it tough to keep up with the IPL this year.
In 11 matches, he has taken just 3 wickets at an average of 116.53 and an economy of 8.51. These are not numbers one would typically associate with him.
Even against RCB on Sunday, Bumrah went wicketless but bowled an excellent nineteenth over to set up a last-over thriller. Raj Bawa, though, was unable to defend 15 runs in the last over.
Jasprit Bumrah’s poor form has forced MI’s other bowlers to shoulder more responsibility than they’ve been accustomed to. MI’s star-studded batting has also been severely underperforming this year.
“Relying heavily on Jasprit Bumrah is not the right thing to do” – Harbhajan Singh
Speaking on JioStar, Harbhajan said Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t necessarily the villain of MI’s season despite the lack of wickets. He said that the other bowlers were low on confidence as well, and blaming it all on Bumrah wasn’t the right thing to do.
“Jasprit Bumrah is the kind of bowler who can change a match at any moment. But relying too heavily on him is not the right thing to do. I think the other bowlers in the side, like Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, and Hardik Pandya, are all low on confidence,” he said.
“The challenge in that camp is how to bring them back to the same level of confidence as the others. Mumbai Indians have depended on Bumrah ever since he came into the side, but at the moment, they are relying on him far too heavily.”
“Somebody else also needs to pick up wickets. Spinners, too, are a concern. I think the biggest weakness of this side is the lack of quality local spinners. There used to be some good Indian spinners in the past, but there is no one at this point, and that is a major gap in the squad,” he added.
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“Not the same Mumbai Indians anymore” – Harbhajan
Harbhajan had played for the Mumbai Indians between 2008 and 2017, winning three IPL trophies with the franchise. He was also the captain of the team for a brief while.
Harbhajan compared his time with the team to the Mumbai Indians of today. He said that even when MI lost many matches in a row, their body language had not fallen the way it has now.
“The body language of the Mumbai Indians, which also plays a big role, is something I have never seen like this before. I have been part of this team for nearly 10 years. Even when we were losing, like in the season where we lost five in a row [2015], our body language was never flat, the will to fight back was always there,” he said.
“Right now, that confidence is missing. Somebody needs to lead the way and say, ‘Whatever has happened is in the past. How we change things from here will depend on how we react on the field.’ It starts with one person, someone who needs to step up as that leader and take the team forward,” he added.
