Former Indian players Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble expressed their views on the Mumbai Indians’ struggles in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, noting the team’s heavy reliance on Jasprit Bumrah and a general lack of confidence.
The Mumbai Indians, five-time IPL champions, are not performing at their usual level this season. Both their batting and bowling have been inconsistent.
Harbhajan Singh, a former MI captain, pointed out that the bowling lineup is too reliant on Bumrah, while other bowlers are not stepping up.
“Jasprit Bumrah can turn a game around, but depending too much on him isn’t ideal. Bowlers such as Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, and Hardik Pandya seem to lack confidence,” Harbhajan mentioned on JioStar.
He also emphasized that the spin department is a significant weakness for the team.
“Mumbai has relied on Bumrah since he joined, but now the dependency is excessive. Other players need to take wickets too. The absence of quality Indian spinners is a major gap,” he added.
Harbhajan, who has been with the team for nearly a decade, remarked that the current team’s body language is surprising and unlike what he experienced in the past.
“The body language of the Mumbai Indians is something I have never seen. Even in bad times, we never lost our spirit to fight back,” he observed.
Anil Kumble shared similar concerns, highlighting that the batting has not compensated for the bowlers’ struggles.
“Bumrah is top-notch, and teams will rely on him. However, when bowlers falter, the batting must step up, which isn’t happening for Mumbai,” Kumble said on the same show.
Kumble also noted a lack of confidence in MI’s middle order.
“There’s a clear lack of confidence in the middle order. Without intent and fearlessness, it’s hard to succeed,” Kumble remarked.
Despite MI’s disappointing performance, Kumble still believes the team can recover, although he finds their defeats concerning.
“If any team can rebound from this, it’s them; they’ve done it before. The way they are losing games now is troubling,” he stated.
Following their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 10, the Hardik Pandya-led team has been officially eliminated from IPL 2026.