Mumbai Indians The head coach Mahila Jayawardene In the post-match press conference, he backed his senior players and urged patience as Mumbai Indians navigate a challenging phase in IPL 2026.The performance of Mumbai Indians (MI)’s key trio, Jaspreet Bumrah, Surya Kumar Yadavand Tilak Vermahas been a major talking point in IPL 2026, as the team is struggling at the bottom of the points table. Suryakumar Yadav is having a tough run in IPL 2026 for Mumbai Indians (MI), having scored 717 runs in his 2025 season. Despite huge expectations surrounding India’s T20 World Cup captain. Surya has scored only 183 runs in 9 matches. Jayawardene dismissed concerns over Suryakumar Yadav’s recent comeback, insisting that the flamboyant batsman is not far from rediscovering his best touch.“I don’t think his output is low; if he gets some scores together, I think he’ll find that rhythm. He played really well for that period today, really took on the bowlers at that stage. I think one more over or two he could have left for a really good score. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, it just doesn’t fall into place; I think it was great, I thought it was great, I scored really well for Hot Define.” He seems to be in a good place, he hasn’t done as many catches on the boundary with these shots this season. It’s only a matter of time but I think they are disappointed themselves but they have to keep working harder,” he said. Tilak Verma’s IPL 2026 campaign has been defined by a historic individual performance amid a season of mediocre contributions. On 20 April, Tilak scored an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls against Gujarat Titans. Apart from the century, Tilak has not contributed for MI this season. Jayawardene also spoke about the development of young batsman Tilak Verma,“Tilak Verma is also still learning and playing different roles that he is asked to play. T20 cricket is not that easy, I think the more he plays in different situations he will understand what he needs to do… Dealing with situations, being a little more proactive in thinking about what we need to do in those situations.Addressing the team’s bowling struggles, Jayawardene made it clear that the onus is not solely on Jasprit Bumrah, who has faced a handful of wicketless outings.“It’s not just Bums; it’s a collective effort from all the bowlers. When everyone is working together and you’re taking wickets here and there, it helps Bumrah to be a bit more aggressive instead of doing the holding job. Everyone tends to have a slow season, but the class is always consistent,” he asserted.
