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The Indian Premier League (IPL)’s 17th season kicked off on March 22, and the tournament is just starting to take shape with a couple of teams looking in excellent touch, and a few others still searching for their best combination.
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One of the sides still struggling to find their form is five-time champions Mumbai Indians. Ahead of the new season, they were expected to be among the title contenders, but have lost their first three matches.
The Ambani-owned franchise began their campaign with a loss to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad before conceding an IPL-record 277 to the Sunrisers Hyderabad to lose 31 runs. In their first home match, they were restricted to 125/9 before Rajasthan Royals chased down the target in overs.
Why are MI struggling in IPL 2024? Listing down three reasons behind Mumbai Indians’ disastrous start to IPL
There are multiple factors at play behind this poor start, and MI’s lacklustre performances. Here are three of the key reasons for this.
Hardik Pandya-Rohit Sharma captaincy change
Ahead of the player auction in December, MI made waves as they agreed a big-money deal for all-rounder Hardik Pandya to leave his post as Gujarat Titans captain and rejoin his first-ever IPL franchise. He was later announced as MI captain, replacing Rohit Sharma.
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Rohit is still captain of the Indian team, and has led the franchise to all five of their IPL trophies. There have been suggestions that the move has not gone down well with many in the dressing room, and any unrest could contribute to a poor atmosphere, affecting on-field performance.
Hardik’s stint as GT captain was extremely successful as the side came within two balls of winning consecutive IPL titles. However, he has come in for some flak in the first three games for Mumbai this season, especially regarding the rotation of his bowlers and team selection.
Absence of Suryakumar Yadav
While the captaincy struggle may be affecting the mood in the dressing room, a more tangible miss for Mumbai Indians on the field is Suryakumar Yadav. The batter has been out of action since undergoing a surgery for hernia earlier this year, and is still recovering.
SKY’s stint at MI has seen him rise to the heights of the shortest format, and has been widely regarded as the world’s premier T20 batter over the last few years. He scored 605 runs at a strike rate of 180 for MI last season, and missing a player like that is a big blow for any side.
His calming influence and ability to score quickly even in the middle overs have created massive holes, with the likes of Dewald Brevis and Naman Dhir not able to replicate his consistency, even though they may have shown flashes of talent.
Bowling tactics and selection
In the field, MI have struggled with the ball. They were hit hard injuries to both Jason Behrendorff and Dilshan Madushanka, but their replacements have not been up to scratch. Luke Wood looked off-colour in his only appearance, while Kwena Maphaka is extremely talented but undoubtedly raw.
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Hardik Pandya has been reluctant to give Jasprit Bumrah the new ball, often saving three of his overs for the back end of the innings. This looked especially strange against SRH, when the home side were scoring at 14 runs an over the time the speedster returned to the attack.
Nuwan Thushara has strangley not been given a go yet, and another issue for MI is their deteriorating spin attack. Piyush Chawla was excellent last season, but is ageing and looking ineffective. The alternates, Kumar Kartikeya and Shreyas Gopal are not much of an improvement, leaving them wanting in this area which is a matter of squad construction.