MI and CSK have got it wrong so far, but they have what it takes to spring a comeback in IPL 2022

9 titles between them and yet both the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) have got off to poor starts this IPL 2022. Is it about key players being in poor form or is the issue something that goes back to the auction? How do we explain the struggles of the IPL’s two most successful franchises and what’s the way forward for each of them?

Perhaps the one deciding issue for both in the auction was the absence of the Right to Match card. In the absence of RTM, both IPL teams lost key players who were integral to team balance and played a key role in winning them multiple trophies over the years. While MI lost out on Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya, CSK missed out on Shardul Thakur and Faf du Plessis. All of a sudden, both of these teams have had to start from scratch.

Unlike the two new IPL 2022 teams Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, who started with a clean slate, here are two teams who post auction are slightly weaker versions of their original selves. The absence of Jofra Archer complicated matters further for MI and Suryakumar Yadav too wasn’t available to them in the first two games.

Can they buck the trend and turn things around? Do they have the resources to do so? With Rohit Sharma at the helm, you always have a chance. Rohit had started to look superb against RCB and was off to a flier. With Surya in sublime form, MI will be hoping that Rohit back in form will solve their batting worries. That’s what brings me to Tim David.

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Tim David needs to be given a longer rope by MI in IPL 2022

He has had great success in franchise leagues across the world as a finisher and was picked up in the auction for this specific role. May be MI need to go back to David and give him a longer run just like PBKS has done with Liam Livingstone. In the first couple of matches, Livingstone looked out of sorts before that one fifty changed it all. He is now back in rhythm and is key to Punjab scoring at a fair clip.

David can do the same for MI long term. This a team for the next three years and few bad games to start with don’t really matter long term. For Chennai, the bowling in the absence of Deepak Chahar is a real worry. They need wickets up front and that’s what Chahar is expected to do for them.

Tough situations bring about the best in tough people and both Rohit and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are as tough as you can get. They have been through failure before and know how difficult it is to change things around. And yet they have done so multiple times in their careers. Millions of MI and CSK fans would be hoping they will do so sooner than later this time round as well.