Struggling to stay afloat following their fifth defeat in six outings, former champions Mumbai Indians clash with a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial game at the Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday. MI seemed to have found their moorings after outclassing Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 19 in Bengaluru to end their dismal four-defeat streak.
But it appears to have been a false dawn considering the manner in which they were dumped to a 37-run defeat by Delhi Daredevils, who thus snapped their nine-match losing streak at home last night. A lot of work, in re-jigging of personnel and strategy, remains for bottom-of-the-table MI before they confront the Sunrisers, who have gathered themselves from a stuttering start to occupy the fifth position.
Captain Rohit Sharma (in pic) had justified the chopping and changing of the playing XI in the matches gone by, but MI has failed to come up with the right answers. The bright spot for MI in an otherwise gloomy bowling scenario has been the generally good show put up by their key men — lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh — after a dismal start against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on April 8.
It’s in finding the other bowlers to share the work load that MI, looking for their first win at home this season after making it their fortress last year, have yet to get it right. There are issues with the seam attack after the pull-out of Australia’s Josh Hazlewood. New Zealander Mitchell McClenaghan, who has been given the all-rounder’s spot off late has impressed only in patches. Meanwhile Corey Anderson has been ruled out with a finger injury.
The batting looks in better shape with Rohit leading the charge, but could also look to improve instead of relying mostly on one man in big run-chases. The visitors too, have not exactly set the league on fire and have issues over their batting, in which openers Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner have been the stand-out performers. Dhawan and Warner have put on two half-century and a century stand in the games that they won or nearly won (against Delhi). The duo though have not been supported by the middle order where Ravi Bopara, Kane Williamson, Ashish Reddy, lokesh Rahul and Naman Ojha have been patchy.