Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has criticised Mumbai Indians (MI) ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah for not picking up wickets in the IPL 2026 game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The two teams clashed in Game 54 on Sunday, May 10, in Raipur.
Chasing 167, RCB lost a couple of wickets early, with Deepak Chahar removing Virat Kohli (0) and Devdutt Padikkal (12) cheaply. However, Krunal Pandya came to the rescue with 73 off 46 balls as the hosts won the thriller on the final delivery with two wickets remaining.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel (@officialIrfanPathan), Pathan noted that when Chahar struck with the new ball, it felt like Bumrah would come into the game strongly, as the surface seemed ideal for his style of bowling.
He added that it looked like Bumrah would bowl at the stumps and trouble batters, but that did not happen. Although the MI pacer remained economical, conceding just 20 runs in four overs, he went wicketless. Pathan said:
“Now, when Deepak Chahar picked up two wickets, it felt like Jasprit Bumrah had to come into the game. But Bumrah did not really come back into the contest after that. It looked like this pitch was tailor made for him. It seemed like he would bowl more at the stumps and showcase his ability to get batters out LBW or bowled, but that was not really seen. Bumrah definitely bowled well, but the wickets that were expected from him were missing.”
The 32-year-old has endured a disappointing campaign so far, managing just three wickets in 11 games at an average of 116.33, a strike rate of 82.0, and an economy rate of 8.51.
“Bengaluru badly needed at least one batter to play with aggression” – Irfan Pathan’s massive praise for RCB all-rounder
In the same video, Irfan Pathan noted that RCB made a masterstroke by promoting Krunal Pandya to No. 5, with the all-rounder responding with a match-winning 73 off 46 balls, featuring four fours and five sixes. Speaking about the innings, Pathan said:
“The masterstroke from RCB was promoting Krunal Pandya up the order to number five. During that partnership, it was very clear that Jacob Bethell would play cautiously and focus on rotating the strike, while Krunal Pandya would take the attacking role. The way Krunal batted and attacked was truly praiseworthy because Bengaluru badly needed at least one batter to play with aggression. Had that not happened, things could have become difficult for them. He took his team forward in a very comfortable manner from that point.”
RCB now sit at the top of the table with 14 points from 11 games.
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Edited by Dev Sharma