MI will look to open their account in their third game, when they host Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday
MI opener Rohit Sharma with RR offie R Ashwin yesterday. Pic/PTI
Mumbai Indians not getting off to winning starts in the IPL is nothing new. They have not won their opening match in 13 editions, including a dozen consecutive editions. However, in these 12 editions, they have won the title five times, brilliantly led by Rohit Sharma, who until last year was the captain of the franchise. But with Hardik Pandya at the helm from this season, the change in captaincy hasn’t broken their opening-loss jinx. MI will look to open their account in their third game, when they host Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
While MI fans have not taken kindly to the change in captaincy, and more so because the team have lost both their matches so far, the equation should change for the better when the team start winning. What’s encouraging for Pandya and his team though is that after beginning this edition with away losses by six runs and 31 runs to the Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively, MI will play their next four matches at home over the next two weeks before hitting the road again for another set of four matches.
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MI, however, put up a fight in both their defeats. They could have won their first game in Ahmedabad had they planned the chase better. Then, during the record match aggregate against SRH, MI posted the highest second-innings total. MI need to tighten things in their bowling department, where, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, the rest of the bowlers, including captain Pandya, need to be more disciplined.
Meanwhile, RR are on a high, having won both their opening matches at home, defending successfully against Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. With Sanju Samson leading by example, RR’s batting is also well served by Riyan Parag, 22, who has finally found consistent form and a favourable batting slot. Also, RR have won despite openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler not being among the runs. But both have tremendous records at the Wankhede—Jaiswal averages 54.50 and Buttler 34.90 with three fifties and a century.
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