As he sat down for the pre-match press conference ahead of Monday's home match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene delivered the good news that MI fans were eager to hear.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has picked 165 wickets in 133 matches since making his debut for the franchise in 2013, has regained full fitness and is available for selection for Monday's match.
With Mumbai Indians losing three out of their four matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 so far, their fans are hoping for a turnaround in their fortunes and have pinned their hopes on Bumrah, one of the stars of India's victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup and considered the best bowler in the world in this format.
He's available, he's training today, and should be available (for RCB game). He arrived last night, he had his sessions with NCA (National Cricket Academy, now called as Centre of Excellence), and he's been handed over to our physios. He's bowling today (in the practice session), so all good.
Bumrah is coming back after a lengthy injury layoff, having recovered fully from the lower back injury he suffered during the fifth and final Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series a couple of months back. Bmrah's return may result in MI making a change or two in their playing XI.
Mumbai Indians got some more positive news as former skipper and key opener Rohit Sharma too has recovered from the knee injury which resulted in him missing their last match against Lucknow Super Giants. The team will assess him after Sunday's practice and take a final call after that.
Bumrah's return is sure to prompt the opposition think-tank to make changes in their plans for the Mumbai Indians and factor in India's premier swing bowler into their plans.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Tim David said facing the 31-year-old Bumrah is a challenge as he is a top-class bowler who can deliver lethal yorkers.
The 29-year-old Singapore-born Australian cricketer has seen Bumrah from close quarters during his time with the Mumbai Indians from 2022 to 2024. So, he must be aware that the last time RCB played against RCB at the Wankhede Stadium, Bumrah claimed a five-wicket haul and helped MI beat RCB by seven wickets.
However, David hoped that the first delivery bowled by Bumrah against his team would be hit for a four or six.
If we're going to go deep in this tournament, we need to beat the best teams, we need to beat the best players. So you know, hopefully, Boom (Bumrah's nickname) bowls the ball in the first over tomorrow night, and the first ball goes for four or six from whoever's batting for us.
With Bumrah back for MI, RCB will be hoping that Virat Kohli will score a big one at the Wankhede just like he did against KKR in the opening match of IPL 2025. Kohli has since scored 31 and seven runs in the next two matches. If RCB are to do well on Monday, Kohli will have to bat well along with Phil Salt and skipper Rajit Patidar, who too has scored a half-century in three matches.
Both the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru are coming into this match with defeats in their last encounters. But RCB, with two wins and a defeat in three matches, are currently in a better position than MI, which has lost three games in four matches.
In the last five they have played, RCB have won three and MI two. Overall, they have played 33 matches, with Mumbai winning 19 and RCB emerging victorious in 14.
In their first home match at the Wankhede a few days back, Mumbai Indians had defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets with rookie left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar claiming 4/24 in three overs. With Bumrah back, Ashwani may not get a chance to bowl on Monday unless MI opt to bowl first and then substitute him with a batter as an impact player.
Probable playing XIs: Mumbai Indians: Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Vignesh Puthur, Trent Boult
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
