IPL 2025: Jayawardene delighted with Bumrah’s return

Mumbai Indians head coach praises Bumrah's return to form after injury, highlighting his economical bowling performance.

Irrespective of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise you support and the outcome of the Monday (April 8, 2025) night mania at the Wankhede Stadium, every Indian cricket fan would have been thrilled to witness Jasprit Bumrah marking his return to competitive cricket after three months.

“I just spoke to him after the game, and he looks in good nick. He is disappointed [with the result] as well. He wanted a win when he came back. But other than that, he looks fine. The pace was up, the execution was good,” Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians head coach, after MI fell short of a gargantuan target of 222 set by RCB.

With a spell of 4-0-29-0, Bumrah emerged as the most economical bowler at the Wankhede Stadium on a night that saw 430 runs being plundered in 40 overs. He bowled the 4th, 11th, 18th and the 20th overs of the RCB’s innings. Barring a six off his second ball – a pull by Virat Kohli – and another off his penultimate ball by Jitesh Sharma – tonked over long-on – Bumrah did not concede a boundary.

Jayawardene was delighted with Bumrah’s return after he broke down on the second day of the fifth Test in Australia in early January. “We just wanted to ease him into the competition, but he bowled well and he controlled things really well. The more he starts playing, (gets) game time, he’ll get into it,” Jayawardene said.

“The last time he was playing a Test match, all of a sudden he is playing a T20, so we need to understand that. The skills were brilliant but there are areas for us to improve.”