Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has defended Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jasprit Bumrah following his unusually quiet IPL 2026 campaign, stating that relying too heavily on one bowler is not a heathy strategy.
Despite holding a respectable economy rate of 8.51 in an extremely high-scoring season, Bumrah managed only three wickets in 11 matches.
MI were officially knocked out of the playoffs race on Sunday (May 10) after they suffered a two-wicket defeat against RCB in Raipur.
While Bumrah bowled well at the death and briefly gave MI hope during RCB’s chase, Harbhajan noted that the lack of support from the rest of the bowling attack has been a recurring issue.
“Jasprit Bumrah is the kind of bowler who can change a match at any moment. But relying too heavily on him is not the right thing to do,” Harbhajan said on JioStar. “I think the other bowlers in the side, like Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Hardik Pandya, are all low on confidence. The challenge in that camp is how to bring them back to the same level of confidence as the others.”
Harbhajan stated that while MI have historically built bowling strategies around Bumrah, the current situation is "not healthy" as the burden on him is too heavy.
“Mumbai Indians have depended on Bumrah ever since he came into the side, but at the moment, they are relying on him far too heavily,” he added.
“Somebody else also needs to pick up wickets. Spinners, too, are a concern. I think the biggest weakness of this side is the lack of quality local spinners. There used to be some good Indian spinners in the past, but there is no one at this point, and that is a major gap in the squad.”
Harbhajan also expressed concern over the flat body language of MI side, noting it was the first time in his long association with the franchise that he witnessed such a lack of fight.
“The body language of Mumbai Indians, which also plays a big role, is something I have never seen like this before,” he said. “I have been part of this team for nearly 10 years. Even when we were losing, like in the season where we lost five in a row, our body language was never flat, the will to fight back was always there.”
According to Harbhajan, the current MI squad lacks the confidence and leadership spark needed to get out of tough situations.
“Right now, that confidence is missing. Somebody needs to lead the way and say, ‘Whatever has happened is in the past. How we change things from here will depend on how we react on the field.’ It starts with one person, someone who needs to step up as that leader and take the team forward,” he remarked.
