Bumrah not booming: Why MI pace spearhead has gone wicketless in IPL 2026's first three matches

Jasprit Bumrah is rarely hit for a six. Even rarer is the prospect of him getting launched for a maximum on his very first ball. And it is almost impossible to smash him for another six a few balls later.

All of this happened during the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) win over the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Tuesday. Bumrah was taken for 14 runs in his first over and RR galloped to 59 without loss in the first three overs. MI's ever-reliable bank was looted by the 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

The Indian and MI pace spearhead finished with 34 runs in his three overs and went wicketless. To further complicate things for MI, this was not a one-off poor outing for Bumrah. He has looked a bit off-colour this season.

Bumrah's drop in numbers

Bumrah was the seventh-highest wicket-taker in the league last year with 16 scalps. This was despite him missing a few games. A season before that, he was third in the Purple Cap race with 20 wickets. In three matches at this edition, he is yet to take a single wicket.

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One can overlook the wickets column if the economy of a bowler is impressive. But even here, Bumrah's numbers have taken a hit. In the previous two seasons, his economy was a mind-boggling 6.48 and 6.67, respectively. The pacer had come up with these numbers even when the 220-plus totals became a norm in IPL.

Jasprit Bumrah has not taken a wicket so far in IPL 2026 in 11 overs. Reuters

However, this season, his economy is 8, the highest for him since 2015. It is still a remarkable number, but just not at the standards that the pacer sets for himself. In his very first over this season, he was taken for 11 runs. He had a decent first game, a very good second game and a poor third one.

His lack of wickets and higher-than-usual economy have had a big effect on MI's form as they have now lost back-to-back games after a win in their campaign opener.

Why Bumrah is looking ineffective in IPL 2026?

Bumrah had suffered a lower back injury early last year before he returned to the field during the IPL. Despite the injury concerns, Bumrah had a successful season; however, he did seem to have issues with his accuracy, which wasn't as effective as before.

While in T20s, he compensated for it with his plethora of variations, in Test cricket, where accuracy is the most valuable asset, his form did seem a little iffy.

He has not been at his accurate best in recent times and there have been times where he has escaped punishment just because batters do not want to take risks against him.

As we saw on Tuesday, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is no such batter.

The 15-year-old smashed Bumrah for a six on his very first ball. The pacer is known to be right on his radar from ball one. However, he delivered a juicy half volley first up. He is missing a mark just a little more than usual.

Another reason why Bumrah is looking less effective is that the MI bowling attack has been reduced to a one-man show. All other MI bowlers, except Mitchell Santner, who has played only one game, have gone over 10 runs an over. As the other overs are already costing too many runs, Bumrah has to pull things back every game, and this year, he has failed to do it so far.

However, it remains only a matter of time before that wicket column starts ticking and normalcy is restored in the league. His standards are so high that even an economy of eight seems too much, but in reality, it is still an elite figure. There is not much to worry about as far as Bumrah is concerned, but other MI bowlers can certainly help their pace spearhead.