Mumbai : Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has backed pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah despite his wicketless run stretching to five matches in the Indian Premier League, following Thursday’s seven-wicket defeat by Punjab Kings.
After winning their opening game of the season for the first time since 2012, five-times champions Mumbai have slumped to four consecutive losses, leaving them ninth in the 10-team standings.
Jayawardene said Bumrah was bowling well but lacked support from the rest of the attack, with opposition teams playing him cautiously and targeting other bowlers.
“I think Bumrah is bowling well — it’s just where we are not putting pressure in the powerplay,” Jayawardene said. “I can’t put a finger on why he hasn’t taken wickets, but as a unit we have lacked penetration on different surfaces.”
Punjab’s chase was powered by Shreyas Iyer, who struck 66 off 35 balls to help the league leaders overhaul a 196-run target with 21 balls to spare.
Jayawardene added that while Mumbai have shown flashes of quality, they have not been clinical at key moments compared to their rivals.
Captain Hardik Pandya admitted the team may need to take tough decisions to revive their campaign.
“We need to see if we have to make some difficult calls or continue and hope things turn around,” Pandya said. “These are hard questions we need to answer, and we have to take ownership.”
