Jasprit Bumrah Set to Make Captaincy Debut for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026

Bumrah's Captaincy Opportunity

After 13 years since his first appearance in the IPL, Jasprit Bumrah is poised to take on the role of captain for the Mumbai Indians (MI). He is expected to lead the team against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 58th match of IPL 2026, scheduled for Thursday, May 14, in Dharamsala. Hardik Pandya remains unavailable due to ongoing back spasms, having missed two consecutive matches and a total of three this season. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav has stepped in as captain.

However, Suryakumar will not be present in Dharamsala either, as he recently welcomed a baby girl and is currently with his family in Mumbai. Reports indicate that Tilak Varma is also a candidate for the captaincy, having joined MI during the IPL 2022 mega-auction and retained before the IPL 2025 auction. He has experience leading Hyderabad in domestic competitions.

Bumrah's Experience in Leadership

In terms of experience, Bumrah has a significant edge over Varma, having captained the Indian team in both T20I and Test formats. His captaincy debut for India occurred during a one-off Test against England in 2022. He returned to professional cricket as the T20I captain in 2023 during the series against Ireland and led India in the first and fifth Tests against Australia in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit Sharma, MI's former captain who led the team to five IPL titles, is not expected to return to the captaincy. He took over the leadership role in the middle of IPL 2013 but was dismissed before IPL 2024. In 2025, he was also removed from the ODI captaincy and did not resume his leadership position in the ODI series against South Africa, even when Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer were unavailable.