Mumbai Indians are currently ninth on the points table, with two wins to their name in eight games. They have made several changes to the bowling unit but are yet to find stability, which is one of the biggest reasons behind their poor show in IPL 2026. In their previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai put up 243 runs on the board in the first innings, but ended up conceding 249, with eight balls remaining, which highlights their bowling woes.
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult have struggled to live up to the potential, while Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar, who were backed heavily in the early phase of the competition, have been dropped.
Now, not everything is perfect in the batting department too. Suryakumar Yadav, the vice-captain of the side, has amassed only 162 runs in eight matches this season. Tilak Varma, on the other hand, has been inconsistent and the same thing can be said about Hardik Pandya. They lacked the pedigree and have cost Mumbai so far.
Analysing the reason behind their poor outing in 2026, former cricketer Ian Bishop noted that the T20 World Cup might have taken a toll on the bodies of the Indian internationals. He believes that if the players had enjoyed some time off before regrouping for the IPL, the result could have been different. However, he understands the business side of it and the nature of the game, which is ruthless in modern times.
Ideally, I would have liked to see those guys get a few days' break: Bishop
“What Jasprit Bumrah, SKY and Arshdeep Singh from Punjab Kings and those guys and what they put out to win that T20 World Cup at home, must have been exhausting. I can’t imagine the energy that they must have put out in winning that in their home environment. Ideally, I would have liked some of those guys, particularly Bumrah, who was excellent right across the World Cup and was a big part of why India won, being given a break to refresh,” ESPNcricinfo expert Bishop answered India TV’s query ahead of IPL’s Revenge Week.
“To sit back, analyse, rest yourself and not just come back mentally strong but fine-tune whatever skills or planning, which will take you to another level. But that’s not the case because they are contracted to the franchises. So, my thing would be ideally I would have liked to see those guys get a few days' break to enjoy the success they brought to the country and refresh themselves. But they came straight into the IPL, which I understand is another business side of it,” he added.
When informed that KKR’s Varun Chakaravarthy bounced back after a poor start following a small break due to an injury, he noted that it is one of the methods to bring a cricketer back in form. However, he didn’t comment on whether that is one formula Mumbai should follow as well.
“Varun was given some time out to try to recalibrate and it seems to have worked for him. That is one way to go about it,” he added.
Tune in Mumbai's upcoming high-voltage clash against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings on May 2 on JioStar and Star Sports Network.
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