mumbai indians head coach Mahela Jayewardene In the post-match press conference, he struck a calm and reassuring tone, supporting his senior players and appealing to Mumbai Indians to be patient during the challenging phase of IPL 2026.Performances from key trio of Mumbai Indians (MI), Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadavand Tilak Varmahas been a major talking point in IPL 2026 as the team is at the bottom of the points table. Suryakumar Yadav has had a tough time with Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2026 after scoring a record-breaking 717 runs in the 2025 season. Although people have high hopes on India’s T20 World Cup captain. In 9 games, Surya scored only 183 points. Jayawardene has dismissed concerns over Suryakumar Yadav’s recent return, insisting the flamboyant batsman is not far away from rediscovering his best touch.“I don’t think his output has gone down; if he gets some runs, I think he will find a rhythm. He bowled really well in that period today and really struggled with the bowlers at that stage. I think he can play a few more overs and get a really good score. There are. When things don’t go your way, it’s not going to be there; I thought it was a really good shot, straight to the fielder. He’s definitely got the ability and I think he’s in a good space, it’s just that he hasn’t been caught on the boundary that much this season. It’s just a matter of time but I think he’s disappointed personally but has to keep working harder,” he said. Tilak Varma’s performance in IPL 2026 was a historic individual performance in a season of meager contributions. On April 20, Tilak remained unbeaten on 101 off 45 balls against the Gujarat Titans. Apart from Century, Tilak has yet to make any contribution for MI this season. Jayawardene also spoke about the development of young batsman Tilak Varma,“Tilak Varma is still learning and playing the different roles he is asked to play. T20 cricket is not that easy and I think the more he plays different situations, he will understand what he needs to do… He will see that we are able to handle situations and think more proactively about what we need to do in those situations,” Jayawardene asserted.Talking about the team’s bowling woes, Jayawardene made it clear that the blame does not lie solely with Jasprit Bumrah, who has endured several wicketless outings.“It’s not just Bumrah’s effort; it’s a collective effort from all the bowlers. When everyone works together and you pick up wickets here and there, it also helps Bumrah to be more aggressive rather than doing a defensive job. Everyone will go through a slow season but class is always a constant,” he stressed.
