After losing three matches in a row, the Mumbai Indians are gradually losing its plot. On paper, they are not a bad team, but somewhere something is seriously wrong. Not to forget that this is the same team, which won the IPL two seasons ago, but gradually, they are lagging behind other teams.
First they lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL’s opening match. Then, the Kings upstaged them at home before the Rajasthan Royals handed out a seven-wicket in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
There was a gloom in the dressing room when the Mumbai Indians lost those three early wickets during the first essay of the match. Their captain Rohit Sharma had a very disgusting look on his face after getting out for a duck and there was no positive intent on the faces of his players.
Before it all began, their last match hero Harbhajan Singh was out of the team due to a sore neck. To try out a different combination, Rohit came down the order to stabilize the Mumbai batting. But nothing worked. Not even after making three changes in the playing XI.
After losing their opener Aaron Finch with an injury, Mumbai top-order lost the plot completely. There was a bit of partnership between Corey Anderson and K Pollard that repaired the Mumbai innings and took their score to a respectable164. But this score wasn’t big enough to stop the Royals, who won their third consecutive match of the league.
After opener Ajinkya Rahane gave a steady start to Royals’ innings, their captain Steve Smith took over the centre stage and ensured there was no hiccup for his team. He batted like the way he played the entire summer for Australia.
He batted like the way he played against India in the 2015 World Cup semi-final. Everything associated with Smith’s bat was sublime. With momentum on his team’s side, the Royals are indeed the team to beat this season along with the Chennai Super Kings!
