‘Narrative playing in his mind’: Ashwin explains Bumrah’s decline in form

Jasprit Bumrah finally picked up his first wicket in IPL 2026 after six consecutive games without a wicket. Following Mumbai Indians’ resounding win over Gujarat Titans, former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin explained why Bumrah, who had performed well in the first two games, was in poor form. Mumbai Indians defeated the Gujarat Titans convincingly with an all-round dominant performance. After being reduced to 44/3 in the powerplay, MI bounced back with a crucial partnership between Naman Dhir (45) and Tilak Verma. Tilak then smashed an unbeaten 101* off 45 balls to help MI post a strong total of 199/5.For GT, Kagiso Rabada (3/33) is the standout bowler while Mohammed Siraj remains economical.In reply, Gujarat Titans never made headway and were bowled out for just 100 runs in 15.5 overs. Ashwani posted a career-best performance of 4/24 while Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner picked up two wickets each to seal a comprehensive victory for MI.While Tilak Verma’s brilliant century under pressure and Ashwani Kumar’s four-wicket-snatching performance revived MI’s hopes of making any headway in the tournament, perhaps the biggest positive was that Bumrah broke his wicketless streak in the IPL since last year’s playoffs, marking his biggest wicket-less haul in the IPL.Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shared his thoughts on Jasprit Bumrah’s recent performance, suggesting that the external narrative about his lack of wickets may have affected the star pacer’s rhythm.Speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’, Ashwin pointed out that while Bumrah bowled well in the initial overs, the pressure of not taking a wicket and the team’s defeat might have affected his confidence.“I still think Bumrah played very well in the first two games, but then the team started losing. Then word also started coming out that Bumrah didn’t get a wicket. That might have been in his mind. He got a wicket and that was bound to happen. In the last two games, he was not the Bumrah I have seen but we will probably see the best of him in the future,” Ashwin said.Ashwin also pointed out that Bumrah’s performances against Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were slightly off the mark, where he conceded runs and looked uncharacteristically frustrated.

Hardik Pandya backs return to form

Ashwin also backed Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya to regain his batting form, especially after the team’s recent win. He stressed that Hardik has yet to play a decisive innings this season, but he believed that one impactful knock could change everything for the player and the team.“Remember, Hardik Pandya has not opened with the bat. He will start opening with the bat too. It is just a matter of an innings. If he bats well in an innings, it will be difficult to stop this team. If this team starts shooting, it will become very difficult to stop them. Hardik is not getting wins as captain and he is under pressure and this pressure will also affect your batting. With this win, the chances of Hardik Pandya are high. Will find his magic with the bat,” he said.Hardik has crossed the 20-run mark just once in five innings so far this season. He scored 96 runs at an average of 24.00 with a strike rate of over 143 and a highest score of 40.