Mumbai Indians’ misery doesn’t seem to be ending soon in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. It’s hard to digest that the Rohit Sharma-led side, the most successful franchise in the tournament history, is yet to win a game this season and after a 12-wicket loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS), their way to the playoffs will be full of challenges in coming days.
The unit fought hard while chasing 199 at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. After losing the openers early, the duo of Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma held the fort and took the Punjab bowlers to the bonkers, especially the South African U-19 star who smashed four consecutive sixes to leg-spinner Rahul Chahar.
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Everything was going perfectly fine for the five-time champions until Brevis fell for 49 to Odean Smith. Once the youngster was gone, the MI wickets fell like a house of cards. Their most trusted campaigner, Suryakuamr Yadav, showed a bit of grit towards the end but nothing could help Mumbai win their first game in the tournament.
Facing the broadcasters was a tough task for losing captain Rohit Sharma and he did with a disappointing smile on his face.
“It’s hardly anything to find out (any negatives), thought we played well, came pretty close to closing the game, a couple of run-outs didn’t help our cause. At one time, we were cruising along but didn’t hold our nerves, credit to PBKS for bowling well in the second half. We’re trying to play with a different thought process, but it’s not working out well. But I don’t want to take the credit out of the guys who played well and Punjab did so today,” Rohit said.
The Mumbai Indians skipper admitted that the unit isn’t playing good cricket, adding that they need to go to the drawing board and come up with a better plan.
“We aren’t playing good cricket; we need to understand some situations and execute according to it. They got off to a flier, put our bowlers was under pressure, but the pitch was good to bat on and I thought 198 was chaseable. As I said earlier, we need to go back to the drawing-room and come back better prepared,” Rohit concluded.
MI will face Lucknow Super Giants in their next fixture on Saturday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.x
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