The great Sachin Tendulkar was the first Mumbai Indians captain to achieve this feat after Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock failed to do so in the inaugural season in 2008. Overall, Jasprit Bumrah became the 10th player to lead the joint most successful outfit in the tournament’s history
Published: May 15, 2026 11:37 AM IST
Senior Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has joined an elite list of Mumbai Indians’ captains to win their first game in charge of the franchise after the 5-time champions defeated 2-time runners-up Punjab Kings by 6 wickets in match number 58 of the 2026 Indian Premier League season. The victory was made possible by Tilak Varma’s brilliant half-century towards the backend of MI’s chase.
While the win did not have any implication on Mumbai in the points table, the result impacted Punjab’s aspirations for a top 4 finish. The runners-up from last season have now lost back-to-back 5 matches after winning each of their first 6 games, which had positioned them as the early favorites for the last 4 stage.
However, the North Indian franchise will now face a tough battle for a top 4 finish and the only way they can do so is by winning both of their last two games. The Punjab Kings are slated to take on defending champions and table toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru up next in Dharamshala (Sunday, May 17) before concluding the league stages against already eliminated side, the Lucknow Super Giants (Saturday, May 23) at the Ekana Stadium.
Jasprit Bumrah joins Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma
Mumbai’s 6-wicket win last night helped Jasprit Bumrah become just the 5th captain to lead MI towards a victory in their first game in charge.
The right-arm pacer, who has registered only 3 wickets in IPL 2026, joined the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav – all of whom won their first match as Mumbai’s captain.
The great Sachin Tendulkar was the first Mumbai Indians captain to achieve this feat after Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock failed to do so in the inaugural season in 2008. Overall, Jasprit Bumrah became the 10th player to lead the joint most successful outfit in the tournament’s history.
He took over the captaincy reigns from stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, who missed the game against Punjab for personal reasons. Full-time skipper Hardik Pandya continues to remain out of the MI playing XI despite batting in full intensity at the nets, an evening before the fixture in Dharamshala.
It is being said that Pandya is still recovering from back spasms but many reports have also suggested that he might not play again for the franchise this season and beyond. The all-rounder is reportedly in talks with the Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals over a possible trade, but nothing concrete at this moment.
It will be interesting to see if Hardik Pandya returns to the MI side for the franchise’s final two league matches against Kolkata (Wednesday, May 20) and Rajasthan (Sunday, May 24).
