Mumbai Indians left to search for answers
It’s a familiar predicament for the Mumbai Indians following their big loss to former champions Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 of the IPL-6 at the Kotla here on Tuesday.
MI have consistently made their presence felt in the IPL playoffs since losing the final to CSK in 2010. But just when it matters the most, they have failed to deliver. However, skipper Rohit Sharma has dismissed the notion that they choked on the big stage. “Chokers? Not at all. I really don’t agree with that. You see the league phase, we have been playing consistent cricket. We lost five games out of 16. It’s one bad day. And sometimes, you gotta give credit to the opposition. They batted brilliantly and played played really well,” Sharma said after the game.
Mumbai have one more chance to turn it around but for that they have to beat the winners of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad and then face the challenge of CSK again in the final. A difficult ask for Chennai are known to raise their game in the later stages of the tournament like they did on Tuesday.
For that to happen, Mumbai have to first reach the final and then perform well in all departments of the game.
On Tuesday, their bowlers’ performance put pressure on the batting lineup, but Sharma refused to accept that they were let down by the attack. “When you see 192 on the board, it means we did not stuck to our plans. It did not work out today for us but our bowlers have been tremendous throughout the season. Credit to them.
“I am really not worried about our bowling to be honest but a little bit about the batting. I feel the kind of start we got, we should have capitalised on it. We lost our way in the middle, kept losing wickets, which is not the ideal way when you are chasing such a big target,” Sharma said.
For Chennai though, it looks like another campaign that may culminate in triumph having entered their fifth final in six seasons.
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