Mumbai Indians has dished out run-of-the-mill stuff so far in the DLF-IPL-V and hence is justifiably placed in the lower half of the points table.
MI was beaten hollow for the second time by Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday and it would be anxious when it locks horns with bottom-placed Deccan Chargers in the return match between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
Winning the home match would take its tally to 10 points and reposition it in the leader-group before the away game against Pune Warriors which would be bolstered by the arrival of Michael Clarke.
Not lucky
MI would be reminded of the fact that it was only Rohit Sharma's last ball six that clinched it the match against Chargers at Visakhapatnam. Also, the home ground has not proved to be lucky for MI as it has lost three of the four matches with a solitary win against Rajasthan Royals.
The absence of Sachin Tendulkar (injury) and Lasith Malinga (sore back) in a few matches made it tough for Mumbai Indians.
MI has to quickly resolve its ‘opening pair' issue before the start of the second set of eight matches. Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu, T. Suman, South Africans Richard Levi and Davy Jacobs, New Zealander James Franklin and Australian Adrian Blizzard have all been tried so far. Left-arm spinners Murali Kartik, Brad Hogg and Shahbaz Nadeem teased and tricked Levi and after five matches MI decided to drop the hard-hitting opener.
Tendulkar and Levi gave a 69-run start against CSK and Tendulkar and Franklin gave 51 and 52-run starts in the back-to-back matches against KXIP. Maybe it's time for it to opt for one of the two combinations against Chargers. Franklin though has to be declared fit.
The likes of Rohit, Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik and Kieron Pollard will have their work cut out and MI's progress in the remaining part of the league will hinge largely on their batting ability to make up for erratic bowling.
Injury worries
MI's injury worries continue though with Pollard hurting his right shoulder against Daredevils.
The home side had an excellent start with Malinga, Pollard and Munaf Patel showing the art of getting wickets, but it has suffered owing to an ineffective spin department and also on account of Munaf's behaviour.
Harbhajan's poor form
Skipper Harbhajan Singh (one for 206 in eight matches) himself has not been in good form and will hope for a change in fortunes.
Deccan Chargers notched up its first win against Pune Warriors and is high on confidence. “The more we win, the more we stay in the league. We have a long way to go,” said Chargers skipper Cameron White.
He backed his strength and showed what he can do in a Twenty20 game (against Pune).
“There's no self-doubt in us. We should have won against Mumbai and Delhi, we did not finish these two matches,” said Chargers coach Darren Lehmann after his team's win at the Subrata Roy Sahara Roy stadium on Thursday.
