A look at what Mumbai Indians need to do to get their IPL campaign back on track

Mumbai Indians have had very few things to cheer about in the IPL so far

One of the giants of the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years, Mumbai Indians (MI) have not had a great start to this year’s campaign. Three losses on the trot, including a listless performance at the Wankhede Stadium against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), have caused a lot of concerns amongst their fans. More than the losses, it has been the fact that none of their big players have really stepped up that has been grossly worrisome. Their batting has looked unstructured and bowling has been inconsistent and questions have been raised as to the composition of the team.

Time for MI to change their strategy

Mumbai decided to go with two all-rounders and five bowlers in all the three games that they have played so far. In the first match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and then against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kieron Pollard didn’t bowl a single over while Corey Anderson wasn’t given a bowl against Kings XI. It is baffling why Mumbai are stocking up their bowling department and under utilising their all-rounders when their batting has looked so weak. There has been a collective top-order failure in every game and Mumbai should look to address this issue by playing one bowler less.

Aaron Finch’s poor form, meanwhile, has continued from the World Cup. He has thrown away his wicket by playing poor shots and hasn't looked comfortable playing at the top of the order against quality fast bowlers. Without being too harsh, the hamstring injury that he suffered against RR yesterday could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as they now have the chance to replace him with either Lendl Simmons or Aiden Blizzard, both of whom are eager to prove a point.

Simmons had a great IPL last year and it is only fair that he is given an opportunity to open the batting. Rohit Sharma opened the batting in the first two games and even though it looked like a wise decision, it failed because of a lack of anchor in Mumbai’s middle-order. Perhaps, Rohit can slot into the middle-order on a permanent basis given his ability to hit the big shots while also having the capability to manoeuvre the ball into gaps during the middle overs.

A look at MI’s ideal playing XI

Players like Aditya Tare and Ambati Rayudu were extremely poor in the first two games and MI have addressed this issue by playing Parthiv Patel instead of Tare and trying out Unmukt Chand instead of Ambati Rayudu against RR. Parthiv, in particular, looked in good touch and should be given the nod for the next few games ahead of Tare. More opportunities should be given to Unmukt, despite his poor performance yesterday. Simmons and Parthiv can open the batting followed by a middle order comprising of Unmukt, Rohit, Anderson and Pollard.

It will be interesting to see if Mumbai decide to promote Harbhajan up the batting order after his heroics against Punjab. It was unfortunate that he missed the game against Rajasthan, but he will be expected to play an important role with the bat as well, once he is back to full fitness.

Pollard and Anderson were involved in a fine partnership against Rajasthan and were responsible for Mumbai posting 164. This is an encouraging sign for Mumbai and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark campaign.

Siddhesh Lad is another exciting cricketer who can get a look in. He is an attacking batsman and given Mumbai’s batting woes, they will be better off playing him instead of an extra Indian bowler. It is also surprising that Shreyas Gopal wasn’t a part of the first two games and was under utilised in the third game. He had a stellar domestic season and is an extremely competitive leg spinner, apart from being a handy lower-order batsman. Bowling in tandem with Harbhajan will suit him and he can be given a go in place of J Suchith or Pawan Suyal.

None of the fast bowlers who have played so far have impressed. Lasith Malinga has been erratic, Vinay Kumar has bowled a lot of poor deliveries and even though Pawan Suyal and Jasprit Bumrah have bowled at a decent pace, they have lacked the incisiveness needed at this level. If this continues the same way, Mumbai can have a good look at Abhimanyu Mithun, who is known for being a line and length bowler. Malinga and Suyal were very expensive against RR and Mumbai’s over dependence on Malinga is hurting them. Mumbai have Mitchell McClenaghan and Marchant de Lange waiting in the wings, in case Malinga doesn’t improve quickly.

It’s safe to say that there are a lot of issues for Mumbai’s think tank to address to get back on track. There have been very few bright spots for Mumbai in the first three games and given their strong team and even stronger support staff, much more is expected from Mumbai in the coming matches.

Suggested XI: Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Unmukt Chand, Rohit Sharma, Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard, Siddhesh Lad, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Abhimanyu Mithun, Lasith Malinga.