Mumbai Indians’ season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders started like a tug-of-war for control, with the ball doing plenty of work but the scoreboard refusing to slow down. In the opening phase, Rohit Sharma’s side rotated through four different options—Trent Boult, Hardik Pandya, AM Ghazanfar and Jasprit Bumrah—trying to seize early breakthroughs. Even then, runs kept coming. Hardik, searching for traction inside the powerplay, went to his fifth bowling choice, Shardul Thakur, and the move paid off almost immediately, ending a 69-run partnership between KKR’s openers.
Thakur’s breakthrough and MI’s early wicket picture
That match offered a snapshot of what MI are hoping for more often this season. Thakur finished with figures of 3 for 39, and with four games played he sits top among Mumbai’s wicket-takers. However, the numbers since that burst tell a more complicated story: after adding just two more wickets following that opening night, his wicket haul has not built into a sustained run. Behind him, Mitchell Santner, Hardik and Ghazanfar are next with two wickets each, while Deepak Chahar, Boult and Corbin Bosch have managed one wicket apiece.
- Shardul Thakur: 3/39 in the opener; leads MI’s wicket count after four matches
- Mitchell Santner, Hardik Pandya, AM Ghazanfar: 2 wickets each
- Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Corbin Bosch: 1 wicket each
- Mayank Markande and Jasprit Bumrah: 0 wickets so far (after three and four games respectively)
Economy pressure and the middle-overs problem
MI’s overall bowling profile has been difficult to manage, even when the pace and strike look capable of creating chances. Bumrah, for instance, has still been highly economical, with an economy rate of 8.20—the best among Mumbai’s bowlers and also the sixth-best among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs this season. Yet wickets have not arrived often enough, and that absence appears to have softened the attack’s edge, with pressure dissipating rather than being converted into consistent partnership breaks.
On the season ledger, Mumbai sit with the worst economy rate in the competition at 11.3, and their bowling average stands at 55.00. Delhi Capitals are listed as the next-worst side with a bowling average of 35.60. While MI have not been the most punishing in the powerplay and the death overs, they have been the most expensive unit during the middle overs. In that phase, their economy comes out to 11.08, which is more than a run per over higher than the next-worst team, CSK (9.85).
Spinners under strain and wicket-taking drought
A large share of the issue is linked to MI’s spin department struggling for impact. When looking back to 2025, Mumbai’s spinners had been among the most frugal in the tournament. But the drop-off this year has been sharp. This season, the spin group has collected only four wickets collectively, and they carry the worst combined figures across teams: an average of 53.25 and an economy rate of 11.83. Even at their best last season, Santner was the key driver of much of that success.
So far in IPL 2026, the spinners—Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar and Santner—have struggled to impose themselves. Markande has endured a particularly tough start: he has gone at 15.20 and has been used for only five overs across three innings. Santner has been steadier in terms of runs conceded, with an economy of 9.28, but he rarely looks like a regular wicket threat. Ghazanfar, meanwhile, has leaked exactly 12 runs per over.
- Spin wicket tally: only four wickets taken collectively
- Spin average: 53.25 (worst among teams)
- Spin economy: 11.83 (worst among teams)
- Markande: 15.20 economy; used for five overs across three innings
- Santner: 9.28 economy; not consistently creating wicket-taking moments
- Ghazanfar: 12.00 runs per over
Bumrah’s wicketless run and delivery types going unrewarded
Hardik has often leaned on Bumrah when the match is slipping, but even that safety net has not produced the desired breakthrough this season. Bumrah’s bowling pace appears slightly reduced, likely connected to workload management after time spent at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence ahead of the campaign. More importantly, his most trusted wicket routes—the yorker and the offcutter—have not been delivering.
Across his last two IPL seasons, nearly 60% of the wickets came from those two deliveries. This year tells a different tale: he has bowled 53 balls of that type out of 90 in total, yet has taken no wickets from them. That wicketless stretch of 90 deliveries is his longest in the IPL since 2014, when he went 110 balls without a wicket.
Boult, Chahar and the new-ball returns
Boult has also been quieter than expected. As a bowler whose impact typically rests on early swing and new-ball movement, he has not received the usual kind of assistance. His lengths, too, have been more hittable than normal, and his early-breakthrough threat has faded. Deepak Chahar has faced a similar struggle, with limited returns in the two games he has played.
The diminishing returns from the new-ball group have increased the pressure on Hardik. Sanjay Bangar highlighted this dynamic after Mumbai’s defeat against RCB on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out.
Bangar’s analysis on roles, skill match and Thakur’s trade-off
Bangar argued that MI’s fast-bowling structure depends heavily on Hardik, and that the team’s ability to replicate a true new-ball role has been limited. He also suggested that if Boult is not swinging, the reason must be identified and addressed rather than assuming the problem will correct itself.
“You don’t have another fast bowler,” Bangar said. “Bosch does the job, but he’s not a new-ball bowler—so who’s going to bowl with Hardik? Because so far Deepak Chahar, their designated new-ball bowler, hasn’t been the bowler they would have imagined.
“It’s not going to be easy by just bringing in a new person that fortunes are going to change. I believe why they are not able to get back to their designed role in terms of skills. If Boult is not swinging the ball, they need to find out why he’s not swinging the ball up top—if there’s anything technically that he can be assisted with—they need to look at that.”
Thakur, for his part, offers something different with his change of pace. He has been effective in bursts, but the cost has been high across the bigger picture. His overall economy sits at 13.45, and he has conceded the most boundaries among MI’s bowlers.
What MI need next: Pollard backs Bumrah and a tough Punjab Kings test
With the batting also appearing out of sorts, Mumbai will be hoping their bowling attack starts turning chances into wickets soon rather than simply slowing the flow. Kieron Pollard, the batting coach, has backed Bumrah to regain his wicket-taking rhythm, and that will be vital as the team prepares to face an unbeaten Punjab Kings side on Thursday.
