"If you didn't win 1 out of the first 6, how will you win 8 out of 8" - Aakash Chopra says IPL 2022 is as good as over for the Mumbai Indians

Aakash Chopra feels the Mumbai Indians (MI) can almost bid goodbye to their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs of IPL 2022.

The five-time champions suffered an 18-run loss in Saturday afternoon's Indian Premier League match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). This was their sixth consecutive defeat at the start of the tournament. They might need to win their remaining eight league phase fixtures to stand any chance of making the playoffs.

While reflecting on MI's defeat in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was pessimistic about their prospects in IPL 2022. He reasoned:

"Mumbai Indians are still winless. They have not been able to win even one encounter, six encounters have already passed. This season is as good as over, you can still qualify by winning eight matches but if you didn't win 1 out of the first 6, how will you win 8 out of 8."

Speaking about MI's bowling, the cricketer-turned-commentator observed that Jasprit Bumrah is almost like a one-man-army. He elaborated:

"Bumrah was left alone. He is thinking what he should do. They need 5 Bumrahs, it will not work without that because whoever else they get to bowl other than him, he is laid threadbare. Tymal Mills has been sent a mile, he was hit so much."

Chopra added that Jaydev Unadkat was the only other bright spot in the Mumbai Indians' bowling attack. He explained:

"Jaydev Unadkat actually bowled very good overs - 17th and 20th overs. A semblance of a fight was seen that 199 were scored else 215 would have been scored. He bowled very well, but other than him, everyone was hit. Six bowlers were used in the first six overs - every over a new bowler but still they were getting hit."

Although Bumrah couldn't pick up a wicket, he conceded just 24 runs in his four overs. While Unadkat finished with figures of 2/32, Tymal Mills was smashed for 54 runs in the three overs he bowled.

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"He is struggling for runs" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's inability to score big for the Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma managed just six runs during the Mumbai Indians innings [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rohit Sharma's failure to play substantial knocks has hurt the Mumbai Indians. He elaborated:

"The chase is not happening at all. Rohit Sharma got out once again, he has been repeatedly getting out. He is struggling for runs, not for form. It has been six matches now and he has not scored a single half-century. He looks like playing well in every match but gets out. Ishan Kishan also gets out, he is also struggling."

Chopra acknowledged that the Mumbai Indians' middle and lower order tried their best. However, he stated that the regular loss of wickets put paid to their hopes of chasing down the target.

The 44-year-old stated:

"Dewald Brevis at least did the baby AB job. He played some solid shots, such a powerful 19-year-old kid. Suryakumar Yadav played well once again. Tilak Varma tried but after that, wickets at regular intervals. It was only a formality at the end, where Jaydev Unadkat and Murugan Ashwin were hitting but Kieron Pollard couldn't play the big shots."

The Mumbai Indians were restricted to a score of 181/9 while chasing a 200-run target. Although quite a few of their batters got off to starts, none of them could even reach the 40-run mark, with Suryakumar Yadav's 37 being their top score.