Mumbai aim to turn their campaign around against a budding nemesis

For the past few years now, the concern around Rajasthan Royals has always been their weak middle-order. “They are top heavy” is a familiar statement associated with them. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have an assembly line of batsmen one after the other, each capable of winning a game on his own. Who would have thought that after five games, Mumbai’s middle-order would be languishing on every parameter? While that of the Royals – however inexperienced – has done better than all sides except those who sit at the top of the table.

Mumbai Indians would want to believe that the rut that they find themselves in is because of the pitch in Chennai where they played all their first five games. Batsmen more suited to hitting their way out of trouble seemed unequipped to alter their approach on demand. As mentioned in an analysis of the first leg of matches, both spinners and pacers have managed to keep the Mumbai batsmen quiet.

Thus, moving out of Chennai would be a relief for the defending champions. But it will be difficult for them to draw inspiration from their past record at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Since the teams rejigged in 2018 – and Delhi Capitals became a stronger unit – most of Mumbai’s batsmen have not had a good time at the venue. Understandably so, this has been a factor of the surface being helpful for bowlers with pace off the ball. Something similar to what the Mumbai batsmen came across in Chennai.

Despite losing players every week, Rajasthan have been able to hold their fort as of now. This is largely due to Chris Morris justifying his price tag and standing up with bat and ball. According to him, it has helped him to get comfortable with the management having played for them in the past. 

Throwing away his wickets after playing one of the knocks of the tournaments, Sanju Samson was able to control his urges and played a mature knock to get his team across the line against Kolkata. 

With the ball, Jaydev Unadkat impressed in both their wins. But, the find of the season has been Chetan Sakariya. Bowling in all phases of the innings, he is their only bowler to have gone for less than 40 runs in all the games so far. While Jofra Archer was carrying the entire pace unit last year, others have stepped up to fill the void to an extent. 

It goes without saying that Rajasthan are far from a perfect team. The middle-order of Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag and David Miller have had their moments so far but are still a work in progress. On a positive side, Rajasthan have managed to win two games so far without worthwhile contributions from Jos Buttler, Rahul Tewatia and Mustafizur Rahman. Of these, Buttler has the wherewithal to counter Mumbai’s lethal bowling attack. It is an opposition he enjoys playing against and averages 86.33 and has a strike rate of 175 against Jasprit Bumrah and co since 2018. His role at the top becomes even more important as Mumbai’s new-ball bowlers have struggled to take wickets in the Powerplay. At 60 balls per wicket, Mumbai bowlers are doing better than only Sunrisers (90) in the first six overs. Rajasthan would also look to include Shreyas Gopal in the mix who might enjoy his time in Delhi against a batting line-up who has been clueless against spin this season.

But, counting a side like Mumbai Indians out will be foolhardy. They are perhaps the only side that has been in similar or worse situations in the past and have come out of it with distinction. Like Suryakumar Yadav, who along with Rohit Sharma is the only two batsman scoring runs for them said, “We need just one game to turn things around.” For Rajasthan, the moment right now presents them an opportunity to displace Mumbai and move into the only spot that seems to be available in the top-four as of now.  Apart from Mumbai’s current form, they can draw hope from their record against them in the last six games. Mumbai might be champions in the last two years, but this Goliath has fallen to the Rajasthan David in five out of last six clashes.

PROBABLE XIs

MI :Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.

RR :Jos Buttler (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat/Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman.