In this IPL 2021, Rohit Sharma and his teammates find themselves in a difficult situation. When the season was suspended in May because to the second wave of COVID-19 breaching through bio-bubbles, Mumbai stood fourth on the IPL 2021 points table. Their return to the United Arab Emirates, a location where they have fond memories, was expected to boost their position at the table.
However, six days into the competition in the United Arab Emirates, Mumbai have failed to impress. They have now lost two games in a row, the first against Chennai Super Kings and the second to Kolkata Knight Riders. Due to the losses, Mumbai is presently in sixth place in the IPL 2021 points table, with only four victories out of nine matches.
Mumbai's troubles were once again exposed against Kolkata on Thursday. Their powerful middle-order has been off-colour, which has played a key part in their success. Mumbai were 78/1 in 9.2 overs when Sunil Narine caught skipper Rohit Sharma. Everything went downhill from then for Mumbai.
Suryakumar Yadav's difficulties continued as he failed for a fifth time. Quinton de Kock, who blazed through power play, cooled down in the middle of the innings. De Kock falls prey to the pressure generated by a lack of runs, thanks to Kolkata spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine combining to give only 42 runs in eight overs. The rest of the order fell in fast succession, resulting in a score of 155/6, which was below par.
Along with Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Mumbai's top run-scorer last year, has been on a negative note. Kieron Pollard has been the lone quality finisher in the absence of Hardik Pandya.
In the IPL matches in the UAE, Yadav has scored 3 and 5, while Kishan has made 11 and 14. "In the last game we played, we put ourselves in a position to control the game in the first six overs. However, the middle-order has yet to kick in and get rolling. We often talk about someone kicking through the innings at the end so that the batting order may play around them. We just haven't been able to do so, and as a result, we've once again found ourselves with a low score "In a virtual news conference, bowling coach Shane Bond stated.
Bond is hopeful of the middle-order coming back in form ahead of an important match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday. "The one thing we do know is that we have got a quality batting line-up. We have good surfaces out here throughout the tournament. So I am hoping the tide can turn. We need to because it has got to that stage where we need to start winning some games."
With Bond's optimism, one can hope that Mumbai's middle order can get back to normal service and eventually get the team into winning mode in order to qualify for the play-offs.
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