G. Krishnan
Mumbai, May 6:
Mumbai Indians would be happy to get through their last three matches with some consolation victories, go to the drawing room and thrash it out for what has been a dismal IPL season. They have not found ways to win at the Wankhede, which no longer remains their fortress. They have won only two of the five matches at home so far. They have won only one of their six away matches.
They lost a couple of matches by narrow margins – by 6 runs to Gujarat Titans in the opener, by 10 runs against Delhi Capitals – and Mumbai Indians could have won those games and been sitting prettier. But then, it is coming on top in those close games, finishing off those smaller details that champion teams do to cross over the line. Mumbai Indians have done remarkably well under the previous captain Rohit Sharma from 2013 to 2023, winning five titles and also making the Playoffs last year.
But this year, with only three wins in 11 matches and three more to go, they will at the most finish with 12 points. But, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders are already on 16 apiece while Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants are already on 12 points each. And, SRH and LSG will face each other on May 8. Either of them winning will take them to at least 14.
That leaves MI having to fight for the fourth spot with six other teams. If they lose to SRH on Monday, MI will become the first team to be officially knocked out of the playoffs race.
MI leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who has played in all but one season of IPL and has emerged as the second highest-wicket taker at 184, moving past Dwayne Bravo’s 183 in the previous match against KKR on Friday, resigned to the fact that MI are out of contention for the top four spots.
“The pride and reputation” Chawla answered after the last match on Friday when asked after the defeat to KKR as to what was left for MI to play for. “When you enter, you don’t know if you are going to qualify or not. You have to play for your name. When things are not going your way and the other team comes and they are bowling well in good areas, it happens. It was just one off-day.”
For his liking or for anybody’s liking, there has been more than just one off day for MI this season. And that has landed them in a precarious position, pushed to bottom-most place after Royal Challengers Bengaluru moved up from 10th to seventh after the sensational victory against Gujarat Titans on Saturday night.
Strangely enough, the leading wicket-taker in this IPL has been Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah. It is to Bumrah’s ill luck that he has not had support from his fellow bowlers. But then, Bumrah has been a phenomenal bowler for India over the years and has been doing his best irrespective of the pitch conditions, lack of support from the other end, and time and again takes wickets and contains runs.
Whether Bumrah and Co. can stop SRH’s big-hitting opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma and the young batting all-rounder Nitish Reddy, not to mention Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen, only time will tell. SRH have lost two of their last three matches but is the same side that set the batting scales aloft with the top two highest totals ever in this edition, including the second highest (277/3) against MI earlier this season.
And, they have the unheralded left-arm medium-pacer Thangarasu Natarajan, who is giving Bumrah a close run for the Purple Cap. Knowing Rohit Sharma being circumspect against the left-armers, Natarajan may already have plans to remove the MI opener early.
