3 min readApr 13, 2026 04:43 PM IST
Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis suggested that Mumbai Indians have to let go of their over reliance on pacer Jasprit Bumrah, urging them to use the seamer at key stages of the match. Mumbai Indians, who started with a win against the Kolkata Knight Riders, are yet to win any of their other three matches with Bumrah failing to open his account in all the 4 matches.
“When you look at that bowling attack, especially in high-scoring games of 250 or more, you have to assess what the rest of the attack is conceding beyond Bumrah’s four overs, which are usually very economical. That’s where Mumbai Indians need to find answers,” du Plessis told Star Sports.
“They need to maximise Bumrah’s impact by using him at key stages, but it doesn’t get any easier with strong batting line-ups continuing to dominate. They will need to sit down and reassess their approach, particularly in the Powerplay, whether that involves tactical changes or bringing in different personnel,” he added.
Mumbai’s latest defeat came on Sunday against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru when they conceded 240 runs and failed to chase it down, falling 18 runs short. Among the six bowlers they used, Bumrah was the most economical at 8.80 giving away 35 runs in 4 overs. Except for captain hardik Pandya, all the other 4 bowlers had an economy of more than 10.
“I think that was always going to be catch-up. I think it’s been the last couple of games as a bowling unit or even as a batting unit, we’ve been quite catching up to the game rather than leading the game. Really need to reflect, really need to see what best we can do and how we can get that momentum and that click which we require,” Pandya said after their defeat to RCB at the Wankhede.
“To be very honest, now a lot of things need to be rethought. Definitely, it’s not working. A couple of games, we have won the toss, but maybe we need to see what the other options are, as well as the batting group or bowling group that we can have. We still need to bat well, we still need to bowl well, irrespective of the toss,” admitted Hardik.
