Ram Charan found himself at the centre of a viral social media moment after mistakenly referring to Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as a “footballer” during the grand music launch event of the upcoming film Peddi in Bhopal. The event featured several high-profile personalities, including Janhvi Kapoor and legendary composer A. R. Rahman. During a fun media interaction, Ram Charan was asked to describe some of India’s biggest cricket stars in a few words.
The actor called Sachin Tendulkar’s career a “long legendary run,” labelled MS Dhoni as “calm and cool,” described Virat Kohli as “fire,” and referred to Rohit Sharma as “everybody’s man.” However, while speaking about Bumrah, Ram Charan accidentally mixed up cricket and football, prompting laughter online and sparking a wave of memes across social media.
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As the clip quickly went viral, the actor later issued a public apology to Bumrah on X, formerly Twitter. “Uff… I’m genuinely so forgetful with names sometimes. Apologies to Jasprit Bumrah Ji for the mix-up — it was a genuine human error in the middle of all the excitement and the crowd,” Ram Charan wrote.
#RamCharan Gets Confused Between Sunil Chhetri and Jasprit Bumrah 😄#JaspritBumrah – I am your biggest fan. I love football, and you’ve taken it to greater heights. Love you, sir. ❤️#PEDDI pic.twitter.com/8EU3TRn7Z7
— Movies4u Official (@Movies4u_Officl) May 23, 2026
He further clarified that he has immense respect for Bumrah and greatly admires the Indian pacer’s performances for the national team.
Uff… I’m genuinely so forgetful with names sometimes.
Apologies to @Jaspritbumrah93 Ji for the mix-up – it was a genuine human error in the middle of all the excitement and the crowd 🙏🏼
I truly respect you and I am a huge fan of your game. You make every Indian feel proud when…
— Ram Charan (@AlwaysRamCharan) May 23, 2026
Meanwhile, Bumrah’s IPL 2026 season with the Mumbai Indians has been far from his usual dominant standards. Head coach Mahela Jayawardene revealed that the fast bowler has been carrying a niggle since India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year.
According to Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians intentionally managed Bumrah’s workload and allowed him extra recovery time before the IPL season. Despite those precautions, the injury affected the pacer’s rhythm and sharpness throughout the tournament.
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The veteran quick has managed only four wickets in 13 matches this season, a rare dip in performance for one of world cricket’s most consistent fast bowlers. Jayawardene also revealed that several India internationals, including Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, joined the Mumbai Indians camp just five days before the IPL began following India’s demanding international schedule.
