Irfan Pathan outlined potential explanations for Jasprit Bumrah’s current IPL 2026 wicketless streak. The right-arm pacer finished with a wicketless performance at the Wankhede Stadium against Punjab Kings, giving up 41 runs. He has failed to take a single wicket in five games.
Pathan believes Bumrah should lengthen his slower pitches. He said the pacer hasn’t consistently touched high speeds and has been bowling too short. On April 16, the Mumbai Indians were defeated by Punjab Kings by a margin of seven wickets.
“Jasprit Bumrah being wicketless is a problem for them. He hasn’t been able to bowl at high pace, and his slower ones have been short. He needs to pitch it up. He doesn’t seem to be injured, but I think these two things are causing problems. He needs to bowl the slower one fuller and bowl more high-pace deliveries,” said Pathan on his YouTube channel.
Pathan gave Shreyas Iyer’s batting and leadership great marks. Iyer led his team to chase down a target of 196 in just 16.3 overs, scoring 66 off 35 balls. Pathan noted that the batsman hit a maximum after anticipating Jasprit Bumrah’s short-pitched delivery.
“Shreyas Iyer runs the game really well when he is on the field, rotating his bowlers perfectly. We have already seen that, but when he bats, it seems like he never loses control, be it the chase, the bowlers, or the shot selection. When he hit that six to Bumrah off the short ball, it was like he was waiting for Bumrah to bowl short. We could not forget the four he hit last year, and he hit yet another amazing shot. We can see a total cruise control in his batting,” said Pathan.
According to Pathan, the best batsman was Prabhsimran Singh who was a wicketkeeper-batter. Two sixes and eleven fours in his 80 runs in 39 balls, spoke Pathan that he has come a long way along and is a more matured player.
“No matter how much you praise this unbeaten 80, it won’t be enough. He has shown great control and improvement. He scored 500 runs last year, and it seemed like he was a good player who could bat aggressively. But he has shown maturity this year. He is targeting his bowlers and also stepping out against slow bowlers. He was waiting for the slower ones from Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur. He knows that he can step out against a bowler who doesn’t have a high pace. He did not step out against Bumrah, but he showed aggression while facing him as well,” Pathan concluded.
