MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians are not concerned about Jasprit Bumrah’s wicketless run in the ongoing Indian Premier League, batting coach Kieron Pollard said on Saturday, adding that the franchise will maintain a flexible approach with India batter Tilak Varma.
Mumbai Indians, who are coming off two consecutive defeats after a winning start to IPL 2026, will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Sunday, aiming to snap their losing run.
"Sometimes the best form of attack is also defence. We're not looking too much into the wicketless nature of Jasprit Bumrah," Pollard told reporters here ahead of MI's training session on Saturday.
Pollard was asked why Bumrah lacked pace against Rajasthan Royals when their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked MI bowlers.
"If the ball is going at 100 knots out of the ground, you don't want to fight fire with fire, right? You want to try something different," he replied.
"In our camp, we are not concerned about Jasprit Bumrah. There's no issue. You guys go into the intricacies of data and pace and wickets and all of that. We don't look at cricket like that," Pollard added.
Pollard dismissed concerns over Will Jacks’s delayed arrival, saying the England allrounder is expected to join the squad soon.
"We are expecting him very soon. As you alluded to fitness issues, to my knowledge, I don't know anything about that," he said, adding that Mitchell Santner has trained well in the leadup to this contest.
Pollard said players will have to be flexible in the batting lineup when asked if Tilak’s varying position could be behind his lack of runs.
"Everyone is flexible, so you're not going to limit one particular number in terms of where they bat," he said.
"I think everything has to be what the team requires at that particular time because then we can argue the fact as well that Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) has batted at No. 3 for us and India and done well. So we don't need to get into positions but what is required at that point in time."
Pollard, meanwhile, cautioned against withdrawing support for 15yearold Sooryavanshi when bowlers eventually begin to figure him out.
"At 15 years I was still at school playing club cricket and not even sure of having a career. But it's very exciting to see a young guy taking the world by storm," he said when asked about the RR batter.
"One of the things I always say is let's not be on the bandwagon if you have a couple of failures and guys sort of figure him out, we then just trim him at the wayside and forget all about it. I think that's the biggest fear for me as an individual being a cricketer that we all run with the hype and then when something happens..." Pollard added.
Pollard heaped praise on veterans Rohit Sharma, who completed 15 years with Mumbai Indians, and RCB’s Virat Kohli, but said Sunday’s contest is between two teams.
"It's a great honour, privilege and achievement for him or any individual to be in one franchise for 15 years. Not many people can say that. Luckily enough, I can say that," Pollard said.
"Everyone has different motivations in playing for a long period of time. Imran Tahir is playing somewhere in the world and he's about 46 or 47. (MS Dhoni) is still playing at 44. Fortunately, I'm still playing around the world at 39. So again, different things motivate individuals to continue playing.
"These guys have done well for cricket overall, but we tend to just look at the age and say they need to do this and they need to do that. I believe we should continue to honour these guys who have put smiles on our faces over a period of time and let them decide when it's time."
(With inputs from PTI)