IPL 2021: The five-time champions Mumbai Indians had a season to forget even though they were in the playoff race until the last league match. Rohit Sharma & Co’s inconsistent batting, middle-order struggle and a key player in Hardik Pandya struggling meant Mumbai Indians failed to reach the playoffs after three years on the back of two back-to-back IPL titles.
On Saturday, Rohit Sharma’s MI were tasked with an impossible task, beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 171 runs and qualify, pipping Kolkata Knight Riders on net run rate. But why did the most successful IPL franchise reach that stage? InsideSport takes a look at the reasons behind at Mumbai Indians’ season which is nothing sort of a disaster.
1. Struggling middle-order: Mumbai Indians’ famed middle-order comprising the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya besides Krunal Pandya didn’t have a season that yielded wickets or runs. Kieron Pollard although did well in few matches, Hardik Pandya was a constant struggle. With the bat, Krunal Pandya was disappointing while Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav’s massive dip in form in Phase 2 was the other big reason.
- Kieron Pollard returned with just five wickets in 13 games. His batting too didn’t take off as apart from an 87 off 34, he never crossed the 40-run mark in the other 12 innings.
- Hardik Pandya averaged a terrible 14.62 and didn’t bowl a single over in the tournament.
- Krunal Pandya bagged just 5 wickets while scored 134 runs at an average of 14.88.
- Suryakumar Yadav also struggled in Phase 2, scoring 3, 5, 8, 0 and 33 in the UAE.
2. Misfiring openers – Both Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock failed to perform in this IPL. Rohit was in great touch in the first half of the IPL but in UAE he failed to live up to the expectations. In 13 games, he scored 381 runs at an average of 29.30. While his partner de Kock scored 297 runs in 11 games that he played.
3. Inconsistency throughout – Mumbai Indians kick start their IPL 2021 camp with a defeat against RCB. Then the team bounced back with two back to back wins followed by two more defeats. MI is known to have a slow start but in the first phase of the IPL winning just 2 games out of the first five games was a big setback. Rohit Sharma’s side bounced back with two wins but faced three defeats on the trot. MI found themselves in a Do-or-die situation in IPL 2021. Inconsistent performance throughout the league stage was one of the most vital reasons why 5-time champions could not qualify for the playoffs.
4. One-dimensional Hardik Pandya – Talismanic all-rounder Hardik Pandya has turned into a batsman Hardik Pandya in IPL 2021. He did not bowl at all for Mumbai Indians this season due to a back injury. This minimized the bowling options for Rohit Sharma. In many games, MI went with just 5 bowlers and even if any of the 5 bowlers was going through a bad day he had to finish his full quota of overs as there was no backup.
5. Trent Boult & Rahul Chahar’s flop show in Phase 2 – India leg spinner Rahul Chahar, who recently got selected in Team India’s squad for World Cup, failed to deliver in the 2nd phase of the IPL 2021. Rahul Chahar could take only 13 wickets in 11 matches most of it came in the first phase of the IPL 2021. Another major factor that went against MI was Trent Boult’s form. Boult was expected to take wickets upfront with the new ball but he could not deliver. Boult could only take 13 wickets in 14 games.
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