In the space of three days, both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) went to Guwahati and got Sooryavanshied. With the wounds of those bruising defeats to Rajasthan Royals (RR) still fresh, MI and RCB meet on Sunday night at the Wankhede Stadium, hoping to win and hoping for a bit of normalcy.
MI have made a typically slow start to the season and have one win from three games, while RCB had won two before they ran into RR. It’s early days yet, but some themes could be emerging already.
For RCB, that one defeat seemed to be just that – one defeat. That they got past 200 against RR despite being six down in the 11th over showed their depth of resources, and if their bowlers took a pounding, the fact that Josh Hazlewood was back was in itself a source of positivity.
MI, however, seem to have problems. Their bowlers have struggled for both wickets – they’ve only taken ten in all in three games so far – and economy, and their attack seems over-dependent on Jasprit Bumrah. Their batting line-up is a list of familiar, formidable names, but the flip side is the sense it sometimes gives of being slightly behind the times. Where a number of other teams have unearthed stars for the future, MI seem to lack some of that new-age cutting edge.
But if you’ve watched enough of the IPL, you know how quickly statements like that can begin to look premature. For MI’s sake, they will want to prove it wrong as quickly as possible.
