Jasprit Bumrah is yet to register a wicket, and Trent Boult has also gone wicketless so far. Through the early phase of the season, five Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers are operating at an economy rate of 12 runs an over or higher, a trend the franchise will want to arrest quickly.<\/p>\n
Even with T20 cricket continuing to produce bigger totals year after year, this is the kind of \u201ctighten the screws\u201d situation MI prefer to address early. The concern is heightened by the fact that they have dropped their previous two matches, sliding to eighth place in the points table. While MI return to the comfort of home conditions for their next two outings, they know that Wankhede Stadium\u2014where they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday night\u2014does not offer any automatic protection for bowlers.<\/p>\n
Speaking after MI\u2019s most recent defeat, to Rajasthan Royals, head coach Mahela Jayawardene pointed to a failure to carry out the side\u2019s plans with the new ball. Boult, who has been IPL\u2019s leading wicket-taker in the first over, has struggled not only in the two matches he has played so far, but across all T20 cricket this year. In nine appearances across the SA20 and IPL in 2026, Boult has taken just two powerplay wickets from 16 overs, conceding runs at 9.62 per over.<\/p>\n
Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur\u2014usually among MI\u2019s more dependable wicket sources\u2014have also not been able to provide the backing Bumrah would like. Chahar, though, produced an economical spell against Delhi Capitals, but Rajasthan Royals\u2019 openers dismantled him in a shortened contest in Guwahati. Thakur, meanwhile, has continued to play the role of a double-edged option: he is MI\u2019s leading wicket-taker at this stage with four wickets, yet he has also been the team\u2019s most expensive bowler, with an economy rate of 12.88.<\/p>\n
With AM Ghazanfar similarly going for around 12 an over while collecting only two wickets, it is possible that opponents MI have encountered so far have tried to keep things simple\u2014minimising damage against Bumrah while targeting the remaining bowlers instead.<\/p>\n
MI batting coach Kieron Pollard addressed Bumrah\u2019s wicket drought on Saturday, suggesting that the modern T20 landscape makes wicket-haunting less predictable than it used to be. \u201cWhen you look at T20 cricket now, the way it\u2019s going, you can\u2019t really think too much about wickets,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cEven the game that\u2019s going on [Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad]\u2014the powerplay went for more than 100 runs. So again, sometimes the best form of attack is also defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019re not overthinking Jasprit Bumrah not taking wickets. He\u2019s a world-class bowler. He\u2019s done it time and time again for India and also for Mumbai Indians. When the moment comes to take wickets, he\u2019ll get them. If he doesn\u2019t and he\u2019s economical, then we\u2019ll accept that as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all good on our side. We don\u2019t treat cricket like that. And personally, I never look at cricket like that. Cricket is a team sport. So for us, it\u2019s about coming together as one and trying to get the desired result at the end of the day. Then I can look into the different things and create things that aren\u2019t there. For us, he\u2019s fine\u2014he\u2019s fit, he\u2019s firing. And for your sake, I hope he gets five wickets tomorrow. And the economy is about five as well,\u201d Pollard added with a laugh.<\/p>\n
For MI, one encouraging element is that Bumrah has kept the run flow under control, conceding at just eight an over so far. However, his pace has been noticeably lower than expected. In his first delivery against Rajasthan Royals\u2014when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cleared the ropes for six\u2014the speed registered just over 130 kph. After that, he didn\u2019t really find any extra gears, rarely troubling the 140 kph mark.<\/p>\n
Pollard also touched on the pace aspect, explaining why MI\u2019s approach cannot be about matching fire with fire. \u201cAs it comes to the pace and the lack of it\u2014if the ball is going at 100 knots out of the ground, you don\u2019t want to fight fire with fire, right?\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to try something different. But, again, as I said, we\u2019re not concerned about Jasprit Bumrah. There\u2019s no issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, Bumrah may draw confidence from the way he has found wickets consistently against RCB. His tally of 29 wickets is the second-best by any bowler versus Bengaluru. Still, MI will need to be sharp against an RCB batting unit that is packed with attacking options. On Friday, RCB slipped to 94 for 6 versus Rajasthan Royals, yet they made it clear they would not soften their intent, eventually posting a total of 200-plus.<\/p>\n
Until 2025, MI held a remarkable 10-year unbeaten run against RCB at the Wankhede. That streak ended last year, when RCB piled up 221 for 5 at the venue.<\/p>\n
With T20 scoring at inflated levels and batters increasingly fearless, MI\u2019s staff have been discussing how best to adjust without losing their core identity. Pollard explained how experience shapes those conversations with the group. \u201cThe experience you\u2019ve gathered over time, you tend to participate in all discussions and conversations,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult for the guys. We just try to keep encouraging them. We work as hard as possible on execution and on understanding how we can, when the batters come in, get them out first\u2014if not, then try to restrict them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re out in the field, everything comes down to mindset and execution. So the most we can do is practise and have those conversations. Practice is skill, but on match day it becomes bat versus ball, and you see who cracks first.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for us, we\u2019re going to hold strong as a bowling unit. On any given day, a couple of guys are going to go [for runs] in T20 cricket, but hopefully at the end we can average it out and stay within that sort of par total\u2014which has crept up a bit over the last couple of seasons. Good conversations are being had, and hopefully the results will show up on the cricket field itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jasprit Bumrah is yet to register a wicket, and Trent Boult has also gone wicketless so far. Through the early phase of the season, five…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Pollard Backs Bumrah as MI Chase Wickets","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Pollard backs Bumrah as MI target early breakthroughs, looking to tighten bowling economy and turn wicketless spells into early momentum in IPL 2026.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n