Mumbai looks for a turnaround against Rajasthan Royals
MUMBAI: IPL’s perennial slow-starter Mumbai Indians under new captain Hardik Pandya will hope for a happy homecoming when it takes on a confident Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.
Despite the change at the helm with Pandya replacing five-time title-winning skipper Rohit Sharma -- a move that has sparked brutal attack on the former -Mumbai has once again made a familiar disappointing start to its IPL campaign as it lost its first two matches.
A six-run defeat to Pandya’s former team Gujarat Titans was followed by a walloping by Sunrisers Hyderabad which won the record run-fest by 32 runs in Hyderabad, with Mumbai plummeting to the last spot in the 10-team points table.
These are still early days in the 17th edition of the T20 league but Pandya’s Mumbai will need to end its losing streak and improve its Net Run Rate which is the worst among all teams at -0.925.
Among the odds stacked up against it is the absence of Suryakumar Yadav, who remains on the sidelines as he is recovering from two separate injuries which have kept him away from the MI camp this IPL.
Even though Mumbai enjoys a 4-1 head-to-head record in its last five meetings with Rajasthan Royals, the home side will have a tough task at hand given Sanju Samson’s team has turned up all guns blazing to begin its IPL season with two wins.
A big score is due from Rohit who has provided strong starts to Mumbai but what they truly need is Pandya to get his decisions right. Pandya has evidently not used Jasprit Bumrah to the best way possible and Mumbai will have a chance to iron out such flaws.
Bumrah and Piyush Chawla bring the element of experience to the table in the MI bowling attack which has shown trust in local boy Shams Mulani, who is relatively new at the IPL stage but immensely experienced when it comes to playing at the Wankhede Stadium.
The young Kwena Maphaka was at the receiving end of the carnage that SRH handed to Mumbai in its last game but the 17-year-old South African will only learn from experience of the hard ways that come to the bowlers’ way in such a competitive T20 league.
On its part, Rajasthan Royals will look to keep ticking all the boxes after two wins at the start.
Samson remains dangerous in the early stages of the IPL while the immensely talented Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is yet to fire in this IPL, would be keen to get his first big score of this season.
Jaiswal is returning to his home ground where he had blazed a 62-ball 124 albeit for a losing cause in their last meeting here, and he will be eager to stamp his class.