Why Jasprit Bumrah struggled in IPL 2026? Mahela Jayawardene reveals shocking reason

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Saturday revealed that Jasprit Bumrah carried a niggle from this year’s T20 World Cup, which India won, into IPL 2026, and that was one of the reasons behind the pacer’s underwhelming season in the league. Jayawardene said Bumrah did not get enough recovery time after the global tournament, which affected his performances. Bumrah has managed just four wickets in 13 matches for Mumbai Indians, and his poor form has been one of the major reasons behind the franchise’s disappointing IPL 2026 campaign.

The five-time champions have already been knocked out of the tournament after winning only four of their 13 matches and losing nine. Jayawardene said the 32-year-old was battling the injury during the early phase of IPL 2026. “(It is due to) a combination of a few things.

Coming back from the (T20) World Cup, he had a slight niggle which he played with through the World Cup, so we gave him adequate rest to come back,” Jayawardene told reporters on the eve of MI’s final league game against Rajasthan Royals. In fact, Mumbai Indians allowed their India internationals - Bumrah, skipper Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma - to join the pre-season camp only five days before the start of IPL 2026 on March 28. According to Jayawardene, Bumrah’s reduced pace during the early stages of the IPL was because the pacer was going through a “gradual build-up.

” “(In) the first 4-5 games, it was a gradual build-up for him to get over that niggle he had. You could see the pace was dropped because of that, and now he's back to his pace. The last 4-5 games have been good.