Jasprit Bumrah in ‘Good Nick’ Post Comeback, Says Jayawardene

Jasprit Bumrah was back to his best, carried out the plans expertly, and ended up feeling comfortable. Following the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) 12-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 2025 Indian Premier League, head coach Mahela Jayawardene made that judgement of India’s top fast bowler. For the first time since Australia’s New Year’s Test, Bumrah bowled in a game. He did well, returning figures of 0 for 29 in four overs in RCB’s 221 for 5 total.

Jayawardene remarked, “I just spoke to him after the game and he looks in good nick,” “He is also disappointed. When he returned, he wanted to have won. He appears fine, though, except from that. The execution was good, and I believe the speed was up.

After receiving approval from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (previously the National Cricket Academy), Bumrah joined MI on Saturday. For the first time in three months, he bowled to hitters at Sunday’s team practice. After his return, he participated in his first competitive game. After MI decided to bowl, Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar split the new ball, and Bumrah was only added in the fourth over, after RCB had already jumped to 33 for 1.

Jayawardene stated, “I think we got two swing bowlers, we need to give them that opportunity first up,” in reference to Bumrah who did not start with the new ball. Additionally, Boom’s [Bumrah] returning off a three-month layoff. We simply intended to introduce him to the competition gradually, but he bowled well and had excellent control. He will become more involved the more he plays and [gets] game time.

He was playing a Test match the last time, and now he’s playing a Twenty20 match. Therefore, we must comprehend that. Although the abilities were excellent, there is still room for improvement.

Bumrah bowled two at the end, one in the middle overs, and one during the powerplay. He was the most economical bowler of both teams at the Wankhede Stadium, giving up just two boundaries during his spell, both of which were sixes. MI conceded 52 in the last four overs; in the two overs Bumrah bowled then, he gave away just 14. But it wouldn’t prevent MI from losing their fourth game in five outings.

Jayawardene remarked, “[Having Bumrah back] just gives us more options,” “He bowled to batsmen for the first time yesterday. That confidence is something we haven’t had in the previous games. We also have that, but all we need to do is put everything together and play well to boost our confidence and move on.”

Bumrah went on the pitch as soon as he stepped onto the pitch on Monday. He marked his run-up at both ends with the other MI bowlers after miming a few deliveries while standing at the pavilion end. He was replaced as the Impact Player in the chase when RCB’s innings was over, and Rohit Sharma took his place. After joining the squad, was Bumrah eager to let loose?

“Obviously, NCA has a programme that they have to go through, do all the fitness tests and make sure that he is in good shape,” Jayawardene stated. “All Indian centrally contracted players are affected by that. He had five-six successful sessions after completing it, and everything was resolved. Game time was the only thing he lacked. He hadn’t been an active player.

“He came and worked with us on that yesterday at the nets in terms of execution. The expertise and experience you witnessed today were rather good. He bowled to some good players and probably had two or three bad balls in that spell. I’m quite content with that.