In the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, five-time champions Mumbai Indians are at the bottom of the league table. The Rohit Sharma-led side has lost five back-to-back matches and is still searching for its first win in the tournament.
Even though MI batters have somewhat lived up to their billing, it is their bowlers’ poor show that has hurt the team’s chances and they are now standing on the brink of shocking elimination.
Apart from Bumrah, no other bowler looks like he is capable of asking difficult questions to the opposition batters, and that is where MI is losing the games.
One of the major reasons for MI’s poor run in the 2022 edition of the league is the poor auction. MI let go of players like Hardik Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult, Krunal Pandya, and Rahul Chahar and failed to get an able replacement for them. What is hurting MI more is seeing them doing well for their new team. While the players that were available at Mumbai’s disposal failed to impress.
In the mega auction, Mumbai made a bold decision and former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson believes that it is because of some questionable calls that MI is paying the price on the field.
The former Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Chennai Super Kings player said that the five-time winners got it wrong by spending Rs 15.25 on Ishan Kishan. He said that even though the young left-handed batter is a talented player, the MI’s decision to be behind him for such a large price has forced them to compromise the overall quality of the squad.
The Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach for the 2022 season of the league said that he was least surprised by Mumbai’s struggles and added, “It hasn’t surprised me that MI are at the bottom of the table because they had a shocking auction. Spending so much money on Ishan Kishan… He is a very talented and skillful player, but he’s not worth blowing nearly your whole salary on. And then, going for Jofra Archer, not knowing whether he was going to come back in. He hasn’t played cricket for quite a while. They have got quite a few holes in their team. “
Ishan started the season on a high and scored two back-to-back fifties against the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, but after that, his bat failed to fire and that is a cause of worry for Mumbai now. The Rohit Sharma-led side will next take on KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants in Match Number 26 on Saturday (April 16) at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
