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The Mumbai Indians (MI) saw their two-game winning run in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) snap as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) thumped them by six wickets at Chepauk on Saturday, May 6.
Rohit Sharma and Co. were asked to bat and never got going in Chennai, with the home side chasing down the 140-run target with ease. Matheesha Pathirana was adjudged the Player of the Match for his stellar three-wicket haul.
Mumbai are moored to sixth place in the standings as of now, with five wins and as many losses. They had an excellent chance to get out of the mid-table muddle but now find themselves seeking more answers as the end of the league stage approaches.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by MI in their IPL 2023 match against CSK.
#3 Mistake - MI's top-order batters didn't assess the conditions well enough
The pitch at Chepauk was in focus ahead of the CSK vs MI game. It has played quite well for the batters this year while also having something in it for the spinners, and the cloud cover on Saturday meant that it wasn't going to be a high-scoring wicket.
MI's top-order batters, though, didn't assess the conditions as well as they should have.
Cameron Green was the first to go, attempting a pull to a ball that didn't rise as much as expected. Ishan Kishan should've learned something from Green's dismissal, but he too heaved across the line to hole out in the very next over.
To top it all off, Rohit Sharma, who batted at No. 3, decided that the scoop would be a good option. The MI skipper gloved the ball to be tamely caught near the point region, leaving his team in a heap of trouble.
Some caution and smarts would've served the visiting side well at Chepauk.
#2 Masterstroke - Rohit Sharma brought on his strike bowlers in the powerplay
This didn't really have much of a say in the result, with CSK losing only one wicket in the powerplay. However, there was a clear improvement in the way Rohit used his strike bowlers against CSK.
Rohit has usually been content with making Archer reprise the Jasprit Bumrah role, but he knew that he needed early wickets against the Men in Yellow. The Englishman bowled three overs in the powerplay, and although he couldn't provide any breakthroughs, he was their best bet at that juncture.
Rohit also brought on MI's leading wicket-taker, Piyush Chawla, in the fifth over. The leg-spinner immediately made an impact, forcing Ruturaj Gaikwad into a cross-batted shot that led to his dismissal.
#1 Mistake - MI got their batting order wrong on multiple counts against CSK
Rohit Sharma has flopped at the top of the order for several IPL seasons now, so it was understandable that he and the team management wanted to try something different.
However, the CSK game was arguably not the one where they should've experimented. The MI skipper doesn't have an excellent record against Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana, and he wouldn't have been a major force in the middle overs anyway.
Moreover, MI's decision to send in Tristan Stubbs ahead of Tim David proved costly. The South African, who isn't known for his spin-hitting, couldn't even strike at 100 in his 21-ball knock. David, meanwhile, faced only four balls after coming in to bat in the 18th over.
MI got their batting order wrong on multiple counts against CSK, whose plans worked out perfectly.
