As viewers, we do not expect the defending champions to be placed in the bottom four of the points table. But that’s what it has been for the Mumbai Indians. They have had a scratchy start and continue to look unstable. They have now lost five back to back matches which has been pretty surprising for most followers of the game. Their bids at this year’s auction also looked quite ambiguous. They did not look keen to retain Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell, the latter proving to be really in form.
If we go match-by-match, the pattern of successive failures has been due to their under-performing batsmen. They boast of one of the strongest batters in the world but still have not got off to a flyer when it comes to batting. Failure of Mike Hussey at the top followed by nonchalant batting by the lower order looks like main area of concern for the MIs. Rohit Sharma looked as if he is going to do well but things have not worked for him either.
The other flaw that most of us can see is their over-dependence on Rohit and Pollard. The team looks to fall back on these two. Once these two fail then the opposition has a great chance of restricting MI to a below-par score. Hussey needs to anchor the innings at one end to provide stability at least for the first 10 overs.
When it comes to bowling, I am a bit hesitant to blame the bowling because the batters need to give them a decent target to defend. But the issues that they have faced is that they have not been aggressive enough to restrict their oppositions score board. They have allowed the score board to tick away with runs. Though they have the experience of Malinga and Zaheer, their spinners have been off track. They have been expensive and more-or-less wicket less. They need to bowl well to restrict the opposition well. They need to rethink about different strategies.
Just before the tournament kicked off, a lot of us were anticipating MI to do really well for the simple reason that they have probably the best think-tank. Now the think-tank looks even more star-studded with the services of Ponting. But the players need to realize that their think-tank is not the solution. Rather it is a part of the solution. The players need to absorb the tips and different ways from the experts and be aware of when to use them. Even their mentors and coaches need to inspire and motivate them because the tournament has already reached a stage from where the points-table pressure starts to creep in.
WHAT CAN THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS DO?
It is high time that MI show some intent and content. They have returned win-less from UAE but still have some chance to redeem some points. For that they need to miraculously bounce back. They need to throw up stronger challenges if they want to do well. Pressure is going to be high now that the tournament is back in India. But one cannot predict when this pressure turns out to be good for MI.
WHAT DOES FAILURE OF MI MEAN TO OTHER TEAMS?
It simply means better chances to be in the top-four. All these years MI has been a team with a pretty high success rate. Now that their success rate has come down, a lot of other teams would fancy their chances in the second stage. The other teams would be eager to beat MI because of their poor track record this year. This puts a lot of psychological pressure on MI but they still have an edge to be back in form.
Thus, it is easy to say that MI are having a bad time at the office but more difficult for them to bounce back. They need to try and work their issues to give their outing a direction. Let us wait and watch what IPL and MI have in store for us. Till then, Happy IPL.
Beyond the dressing room,
- Prashanti Ganesh
If we go match-by-match, the pattern of successive failures has been due to their under-performing batsmen. They boast of one of the strongest batters in the world but still have not got off to a flyer when it comes to batting. Failure of Mike Hussey at the top followed by nonchalant batting by the lower order looks like main area of concern for the MIs. Rohit Sharma looked as if he is going to do well but things have not worked for him either.
The other flaw that most of us can see is their over-dependence on Rohit and Pollard. The team looks to fall back on these two. Once these two fail then the opposition has a great chance of restricting MI to a below-par score. Hussey needs to anchor the innings at one end to provide stability at least for the first 10 overs.
When it comes to bowling, I am a bit hesitant to blame the bowling because the batters need to give them a decent target to defend. But the issues that they have faced is that they have not been aggressive enough to restrict their oppositions score board. They have allowed the score board to tick away with runs. Though they have the experience of Malinga and Zaheer, their spinners have been off track. They have been expensive and more-or-less wicket less. They need to bowl well to restrict the opposition well. They need to rethink about different strategies.
Just before the tournament kicked off, a lot of us were anticipating MI to do really well for the simple reason that they have probably the best think-tank. Now the think-tank looks even more star-studded with the services of Ponting. But the players need to realize that their think-tank is not the solution. Rather it is a part of the solution. The players need to absorb the tips and different ways from the experts and be aware of when to use them. Even their mentors and coaches need to inspire and motivate them because the tournament has already reached a stage from where the points-table pressure starts to creep in.
WHAT CAN THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS DO?
It is high time that MI show some intent and content. They have returned win-less from UAE but still have some chance to redeem some points. For that they need to miraculously bounce back. They need to throw up stronger challenges if they want to do well. Pressure is going to be high now that the tournament is back in India. But one cannot predict when this pressure turns out to be good for MI.
WHAT DOES FAILURE OF MI MEAN TO OTHER TEAMS?
It simply means better chances to be in the top-four. All these years MI has been a team with a pretty high success rate. Now that their success rate has come down, a lot of other teams would fancy their chances in the second stage. The other teams would be eager to beat MI because of their poor track record this year. This puts a lot of psychological pressure on MI but they still have an edge to be back in form.
Thus, it is easy to say that MI are having a bad time at the office but more difficult for them to bounce back. They need to try and work their issues to give their outing a direction. Let us wait and watch what IPL and MI have in store for us. Till then, Happy IPL.
Beyond the dressing room,
- Prashanti Ganesh