It has been a ruthless Indian Premier League so far, especially for bowlers. On a laughably flat pitch in Delhi, a total of 265 got chased down. On Wednesday, a target of 244 was achieved with eight balls to spare in Mumbai.
Players who have just graduated out of domestic cricket are planting their foot down and smashing ‘no look’ sixes against double world champion Jasprit Bumrah on his home turf. Well, it was just one six by the unheralded Salil Arora, but that hit ended any lingering sense of balance between ball and bat in the tournament.
One would imagine that it would be a level playing field for most teams. It is, but some teams are hamstrung by issues they created themselves.
Mumbai Indians are an incredible case study in franchise cricket. The most successful team in the IPL, alongside Chennai Super Kings, are now fighting not only for qualification to the play-offs but also for its identity.
On Wednesday, Mumbai made 243-5 with opener Ryan Rickelton scoring an unbeaten century. But the match was being played at Wankhede’s compact and flat ground against a merciless batting line-up of Sunrisers Hyderabad. They were probably 20 runs short. Hyderabad always looked in control of the chase and won by six wickets.
Other teams, too, have lost while defending targets in excess of 200 this season. But Mumbai look especially bedraggled. They finished last in the 2024 season, qualified for the play-offs last year but are now exploring the depths of the table again with six defeats in eight games.
And anyone who has followed the IPL is not surprised one bit. It all started when Mumbai’s favourite son Rohit Sharma was removed as captain, apparently without any proper discussion with the player himself, and Hardik Pandya was named skipper from the 2024 season onwards.
Deep fissures formed in the Mumbai dressing room, with other members of the leadership group like Suryakumar Yadav – India's T20 captain – and Jasprit Bumrah – also a national team statesman – taken aback by the developments.
The franchise pulled with all of its weight to retain all four core members of the team. But the team had lost the fervent support of fans, with many still hoping to see Rohit back in charge of a franchise which is clinging on to a glorious past that is well beyond the horizon.
The fitness concerns of Rohit, the woeful form of Suryakumar and the lukewarm bowling of Bumrah have been a body blow for Mumbai this season; three Mumbai Indians batters have scored a century this term and two have ended in defeat.
Hardik himself is well below par with the bat and as a frontline bowler. The lack of power hitters in the middle order is startling, when compared to teams like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Punjab.
Mumbai was once known as the local talent factory of the IPL – they gave the national team players like Bumrah, Pandya, Suryakumar and Tilak Verma. This year, few players would be in demand from other teams. It's all going south.
Can Mumbai still qualify for IPL play-offs?
So does it mean Mumbai’s season is over? Technically, they still have an outside chance. Mumbai have six matches to go in the league phase. They have four points from two wins. Teams that have 16 points (eight wins) at the end of the league stage mostly qualify for the play-offs. Those with 14 have also made the cut.
So if Mumbai win all their remaining six matches, they will qualify. If they win five out of six, they still have a chance.
The simplicity of this rather absurd requirement for qualification contrasts with the complexity of the mess at the franchise. Their captain Pandya is routinely seen flailing his arm around angrily, even as other members of the team look on in exasperation. A part of the fan base wants to see Rohit back as captain and start all over again. They don’t have a single local talent shining through, and even the masterful Bumrah is stuttering.
A few years back, Mumbai hatched a brilliant long-term plan of having Jofra Archer and Bumrah together to form the most lethal new-ball attack in all of franchise cricket. Jofra remained injured and never truly teamed up with Bumrah, who himself has had fitness issues.
Archer is back to bowling absolute rockets. Just that he is at Rajasthan. Mumbai’s other long-term investments in Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar don’t look like providing any decent returns either.
There is another legacy team in the IPL that was plagued by similar issues. Chennai Super Kings looked listless last season as the absence of MS Dhoni and the uninspiring leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad made them the butt of many jokes.
But they finally abandoned their habit of relying on old hands and got some T20 pros in Sanju Samson and Jamie Overton, plus a handful of exciting local talent. They look competitive, if not championship-worthy.
For Mumbai, however, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Unless they win all their remaining matches.
