IPL 2022: 3 reasons for Mumbai Indians' miserable start to the season

Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), winning the tournament five times under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.

Mumbai Indians have often been known to start the season slowly. But this year, the team has struggled to get going, losing matches rather convincingly without giving much fight to the opposition.

This season, it's a new-look squad with a lot of uncapped players and is certainly a great investment for the future. However, Rohit Sharma and Mahela Jayawardene would have expected a responsible performance from Indian senior players and overseas stars.

Let's look at the 3 reasons why Mumbai Indians have struggled so far this season in the IPL.

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#1 Overseas replacements

Mumbai Indians let go of star players Trent Boult and Quinton de Kock ahead of the mega auction. They invested in the likes of Jofra Archer, Tim David, Daniel Sams, and Tymal Mills. The new overseas picks haven't been able to live up to expectations.

Daniel Sams has been ordinary with his bowling while Tim David was dropped after a couple of outings. Jofra Archer will only be available next year. Tymal Mills is their highest wicket taker so far but he hasn't been able to replicate Boult's heroics in the powerplay.

The team's lack of confidence in these players was evident in the match against RCB, where they fielded just two overseas players.

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#2 Form of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah needs to find his best form for MI to succeed

Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are two of the biggest stars in Indian cricket at the moment and the success of Mumbai Indians largely depends on them. Except for one game, Bumrah hasn't been able to make inroads into the opposition batting line-up.

Batters are looking to play Bumrah's overs out without taking a lot of risks. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma hasn't been able to convert his starts into big knocks in all the four matches so far. That has put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of young guns in the middle order.

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#3 Over-reliance on uncapped players

Mumbai Indians have always been known to scout and groom young talents. They bought the star prodigy, Dewald Brevis, and also roped in guys like Tilak Varma and Ramandeep Singh.

Spin bowling looks thin with the presence of Murugan Ashwin and Mayank Markande, who do not have enough big-stage experience.

When the IPL team is losing, it puts a lot of pressure on the young, uncapped players to get the side out of trouble consistently. Overseas players like Tim David and Daniel Sams also do not have much international experience.

Unsurprisingly, this squad looks like a shadow of the Mumbai team from the past few seasons.