NEW DELHI, April 17 (Reuters) - Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has defended Jasprit Bumrah after the struggling pace spearhead went a fifth Indian Premier League match without a wicket in Thursday's seven-wicket defeat by Punjab Kings.
After winning their opening match of the season for the first time since 2012, it has been all downhill for five-times champions Mumbai with a run of four straight losses leaving them ninth in the 10-team league.
Jayawardene was at a loss to explain Bumrah's barren run but said it was noticeable that teams were more cautious against his bowling and focusing their attack on Mumbai's other bowlers.
"I think Bumrah is bowling well - it's just where we are not putting pressure in the powerplay," Jayawardene said of Bumrah, who was instrumental in India’s back-to-back T20 World Cup wins and finished as the leading wicket-taker in this year’s edition.
"I can't put a finger on why he's not taken wicket ... but as a unit we have lacked penetration in different surfaces and that's something that we need to work (on)."
"He bowled some really good balls initially to Shreyas (Iyer) but wasn't lucky enough. I think once he starts taking wickets, (opponents) might not be able to stop him doing that."
Iyer smashed 66 off 35 balls as IPL leaders Punjab chased down a target of 196 with 21 balls to spare.
Former Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene said Mumbai have not been clinical enough at key moments.
"I know we are playing good cricket. We are not taken out completely, but at the same time the other teams are much better, clinical," he added.
"We are finding some sparks in certain areas but the other side is finding that, especially with the ball."
Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya said the team may have to make some difficult decisions to stop the rot.
"We really need to see if we need to make some difficult calls, or if we need to keep continuing and hope that we turn things around," the all-rounder said.
"These are some hard questions, which eventually we need to answer, and the ownership has to be taken."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
