Dubai: Three-time champions Mumbai Indians are almost out of the race for play-offs in the Indian Premier League. After crashing to a 14-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday night, Mumbai are on the brink as another loss will officially put them out of the tournament.
We take a look at the five factors that led to Mumbai’s abysmal show in this edition:
Poor form of Pandya bothers
No team can win if their key players keep failing. Much was expected off the Pandya brothers as Hardik and Krunal had played a huge part in Mumbai lifting the IPL trophy last season. Hardik, after his fine show for India in international matches, was not expected to fail both as a batsman and bowler. His bowling looked ordinary. His half-century against Bangalore was a good effort but it was too little and too late. Krunal hasn’t recovered from his poor form in domestic cricket this season. So bad was his bowling that in some of the matches he did not complete his quota of bowling.
Inconsistent Rohit
Rohit Sharma, who is hailed as one of the finest hitters in Indian cricket, should have led from the front. During the crucial match against Bangalore, he fell for a duck. In matches where Sharma had played brilliantly, Mumbai had won. In Mumbai’s eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on April 28 he had hit an unbeaten 56 while earlier he cracked 94 against Bangalore and won the match by 46 runs. Interestingly in both the matches, he was also the Man of the Match. Unfortunately for him, his other batsmen too failed to click when he failed.
Lack of experienced spinners
Mumbai’s strength in the past was their spinners. Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had shown the way in the earlier editions. They picked inexperienced spinners like Rahul Chahar and Akila Dananjaya. The team management had hoped Krunal Pandya and J.P. Duminy would fill in the void. Twenty-year-old leg-spinner Mayank Markande did impress everyone but he wasn’t experienced enough to maintain consistency. The team management’s thinking behind selection of the spinners had surprised everyone.
Pollard a shadow of his past
So pathetic was the form of West Indies all-rounder Kevin Pollard that he had to be finally dropped from the playing XI. The poor form of their mainstay had hit Mumbai hard. They had huge faith in him and even used their RTM (right to match) card to retain him for this season. He had become the favourite of the Mumbai fans through his stunning catches and explosive batting over the years while he used to bowl brilliantly, especially in tight matches. Though Pollard did bowl during the Pakistan Super League in UAE, in this edition of the IPL he hasn’t bowled. His highest so far is 28 against Sunrisers on April 12.
Lack of team combination
Be it bowling or batting and even fielding, Mumbai players haven’t combined well to deliver. India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was nowhere near his usual form. McClenaghan, who gave away 24 runs in the last over against Bangalore on Tuesday night, displayed his lack of control. There is still debate over whether skipper Sharma is batting at the right slot. It makes one wonder as to what is the role of Ben Cutting. If he was picked as a batsman why is he batting at No. 9? It is also strange he wasn’t used as a bowler. A close look at the matches will reveal lack planning and team combination, two factors that are necessary to win matches.
