Mumbai Indians bucked the trend by winning their first match of the ongoing IPL. They have lost the next two, and normality sort of has returned. The five-time champions are notoriously slow starters. Last season, they had lost four of their first five matches, but still qualified for the playoffs. At the same time, MI haven’t played a final since their title triumph in 2020. A period of five years is a long time for a franchise as big as MI. Hardik Pandya’s captaincy would be tested going ahead.
MI’s next match is against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Against one of the form teams of the tournament, the hosts will have to bring out their A+ game to get a result. For the fans, it’s a Ro-Ko show. From the MI team management’s perspective, they will have to overcome the collective brilliance of the defending champions.
On Friday, two days ahead of the game, MI had a full nets session at Wankhede. Jasprit Bumrah bowling off a full run-up on match-day-minus-two told a story. One could sense the seriousness. Rohit Sharma looked to be in good touch, Tilak Varma was going hammer and tongs and Sherfane Rutherford was hitting the ball several rows back into the stands.
Mitchell Santner bowling at the nets unhindered suggested his return to full fitness. The left-arm spinner had suffered a shoulder niggle during the Delhi Capitals game and missed the next match against Rajasthan Royals. His replacement, Allah Ghazanfar, didn’t bowled badly in the rain-forced truncated affair, returning with 2/21 from two overs. Against RCB, though, MI would like to bank on Santner’s experience.
The tournament is into its second week, but Will Jacks still hasn’t joined the squad. The England all-rounder had requested for an extended break after the T20 World Cup and it was granted. Jacks had a pretty good World Cup, but when he will join the MI squad is still not known. After the game against Royals, head coach Mahela Jayawardene told reporters that he was expecting Jacks to come to the fold soon.
Collectively MI’s batting has failed to perform in the last two games. After the Royals match, however, Pandya had pointed finger towards the bowling unit. “We did not execute the deliveries we were supposed to,” the skipper told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “They (RR openers) played well. Bowlers need to take responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not up to the mark. They also played tremendously. I would not put this game on the batting. Definitely the bowling unit which had to take responsibility. It is always about bowling those good balls. If we would have executed, we would have been in the game. Their openers threw us off our game and we were playing catch-up.”
Pandya didn’t mince his words, but was that the right thing to do? MI need to return to winning ways.
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