Clinging onto its playoff chances by a thread and fast running out of time, Mumbai Indians (MI) will hope its season turnaround can begin with the Indian Premier League match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The back-to-back wins against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in early April held the promise of flipping its fortunes around, but the momentum fizzled out after the Hardik Pandya-led side lost three of its next four games.
The dwindling returns from its batters, starting at the top with Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, have been symptomatic of its ailing season.
The opening salvo had contributed four 50-plus stands in the side’s first six games. In the last three outings since, it has had none. The flair of Suryakumar Yadav proving intermittent this season has left Tilak Varma, MI’s top scorer this season, shouldering the batting order.
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MI would hope Pandya’s 46 off 24 against Capitals last week can help him turn a corner and bring some support for Tilak.
With the ball, Nuwan Thushara has made an unceremonious start to his IPL career. In two matches, the slingy right-arm quick has conceded at 12 runs per over and is yet to pick a wicket. The potential return of Gerald Coetzee, who missed the last match with a stomach bug, will ease some of Jasprit Bumrah’s burden.
These issues hold a familiar ring for Super Giants too, who will want to mend their inconsistent form before it weighs on their playoff contention.
Tilak Varma has been Mumbai Indians’ top run scorer this season. | Photo Credit: AP
On the ascendency after back-to-back wins over Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow was handed a reality check by Rajasthan Royals last week. Super Giants, however, are still tied on 10 points with third-and fourth-placed teams and can remain in control of their destiny with wins in their two consecutive home games.
To begin with, Mayank Yadav’s return to fitness brings handy reinforcement for a misfiring pace unit. Both Yash Thakur and Mohsin Khan have economies over 10 this season.
In addition, skipper K.L. Rahul would want to put his spinners, Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya, to better use. The pair has bowled a combined 50.4 overs across nine games. In the seven-wicket defeat against Royals, Bishnoi was held back till the 15th over and bowled just once.
Calls for improvement will fall on the Lucknow batters too, with the heavy lifting having been left for Rahul and Nicholas Pooran so far. The contributions from overseas starters Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis have been too far and few between.
Although Deepak Hooda fired back to form with a half-century against Royals, its lower middle order could add only 46 in the final five overs after Rahul and Pooran departed.
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