Jayawardene: Bumrah, Suryakumar are 'match winners', will keep coming back
"We just keep on pushing. I mean, that's what has worked for them for many years, that's where the success comes. Sometimes it will not have the results that they want."
Mumbai Indians (MI) are drifting down the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table with key players unable to influence matches as they would probably like. Suryakumar Yadav is one of them, with 162 runs at an average of 20.25 and a strike rate of 140.86. Jasprit Bumrah is another, with two wickets at an average of 132 and an economy rate of 8.8.
Both men came into the season as T20 World Champions. Both men have won so many matches on their own. Their quality is obvious but something is still going wrong. On Friday, ahead of MI's game against Chennai Super Kings, head coach Mahela Jayawardene was asked about how he has been dealing with this situation.
"They are match winners, and they are human," he said. "They will go through these things, and their character is that they'll keep coming back and fighting. So the conversation we're having is not to have too much pressure on themselves because they feel that, okay, on their own, they should be able to deliver. So that is just saying it's fine. I mean, these things happen, let's keep trying."RelatedCSK vs MI: IPL's iconic rivals fast approaching must-win territory
MI have only four points from eight games, which has pushed them to dig deeper into their bench. Jayawardene acknowledged that their problems stem from not being consistent enough, but backed his team's ability and hunger to turn things around, Suryakumar and Bumrah included.
"I know they're very honest to themselves, how they approach the game, they train hard, the work ethic is great," he said. "So we just keep on pushing. I mean, that's what has worked for them for many years, that's where the success comes. Sometimes it will not have the results that they want.
"If we had won a few games in between as well, we still will be in the trail of where we need to be, and the confidence will be high, and all that. So every game from now on for us is most likely like a playoff game in a sense. And these guys are professional enough to understand, and they'll come fighting even harder, and then see what opportunities we have going forward, and that's all I can ask as a coach and they are up for the challenge."