2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by MI in their IPL 2024 match vs RR

Hardik Pandya's rough start to life as captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) continued on Monday, April 1, as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat his side by six wickets at the Wankhede.

The loss, MI's third in IPL 2024, reiterated the belief that the five-time champions are slow starters. It was also a rather embarrassing outing for Hardik, who was booed vociferously by his own crowd and had to oversee another tough loss.

It wasn't an acceptable game from a tactical perspective for Mumbai by any stretch of the imagination. They have made plenty of errors in the competition and have tons of work to do behind the scenes if they are to turn their campaign around.

Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by MI in their IPL 2024 game against RR.

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#3 Mistake - MI needlessly used Dewald Brevis as an impact player

After Trent Boult dismissed Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir in the very first over of the game, MI decided that they had seen enough and replaced the latter with Dewald Brevis as an impact player.

However, the move didn't make much sense at all. Brevis, at this stage of his career, isn't the most assured player of swing bowling. Moreover, he wasn't even in the starting XI, and it would've made more sense for MI to see things through for a few overs before making such a drastic call.

There were other options on the bench, including Romario Shepherd and Nehal Wadhera. But Brevis was sent in instead, and he understandably didn't last long - one ball, to be precise.

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#2 Masterstroke - Jasprit Bumrah bowled three overs in the powerplay

MI's low total forced Hardik Pandya's hand, to a certain extent, but the captain did the right thing by throwing the ball to ace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay. Hardik even kept Bumrah on for three overs in an attempt to prise out a few early wickets.

The move may not have paid off, with Bumrah going wicketless. However, the superstar fast bowler beat the bat a few times and got the ball to hoop around in both directions.

Going forward, Hardik might have to use a couple of overs of Bumrah in the powerplay even if he has runs on the board. It's something that hasn't happened so far, and the benefits could outweigh the drawbacks.

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#1 Mistake - Hardik Pandya should've bowled himself in the post-powerplay phase

Hardik Pandya didn't bowl against RR [Image Courtesy: iplt20.com]

Hardik Pandya came under severe criticism during MI's first two games for seemingly overbowling himself, particularly in the powerplay. That was an issue during his time with the Gujarat Titans as well, when he often bowled himself ahead of the specialist fast bowlers in the side.

Hardik has proven to be a man of extremes, and he hit the other end of the spectrum against RR. Even though the Wankhede surface had bounce and seam movement in it, the Mumbai captain didn't introduce himself into the attack.

The fact that MI had four other pace options could have dissuaded Hardik from bringing himself on, but Gerald Coetzee was expensive and Piyush Chawla was ineffective. He needs to find the right balance regarding his own involvement with the ball.