IPL 2023: What's going wrong for Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians?

Last Sunday’s (April 2) crushing defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore extended Mumbai Indians’ sequence of losses in their opening fixture in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to a whopping 11 seasons.

Saturday night’s home loss against Chennai Super Kings meant the five-time champions have won just four of their last 16 games in the IPL (they finished bottom of the pile last season, losing 10 of their 14 games), a statistic that is bound to dent the confidence of a team high on talent but low on performance.

At a total loss

Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma and his backroom staff, populated by some of the most celebrated names in world cricket, must be at a loss to comprehend this massive gulf between potential and results. True, they have been dealt an unkind cut by a spate of injuries to their wicket-taking bowlers, but as Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shown, it is possible to make the most of the resources available. That’s something Rohit Sharma can draw inspiration from.

Prior to the start of this season, Mumbai were dealt two serious blows with pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Australian Jhye Richardson both rendered unavailable for the duration of the tournament. To compound matters, they had to make do without Jofra Archer, their other battering ram, against CSK, which was far from ideal as they sought to get on to the points’ table.

While the obvious temptation is to rue the inability to put out their first-choice bowling attack on the park, it wouldn’t have been lost on Rohit Sharma and the support group that their core strength, the batting, is what has let them down thus far this season.

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A daunting batting line-up

It’s too early in the piece to start sounding the alarm bells – they have 12 matches left and, as they have shown in the past, it’s tempting fate to write them off, given their propensity to mount late charges towards the playoffs – but Mumbai won’t be unaware that under the current circumstances, it is imperative that the batsmen impose themselves.

On paper, Mumbai have one of the most destructive batting line-ups going, helmed by the captain with a fellow ODI double-centurion for company as opener in Ishan Kishan. Rohit Sharma’s exploits in all formats of the game need no validation, even though he has lost some of the consistency since taking over as all-format national captain last March.

Kishan, the pint-sized left-hander who packs quite a punch, was chased relentlessly at the mega auction last season by Mumbai, who couldn’t retain him because of the restriction on the number of players they could hold back, but left no stone unturned in their bid to reacquire his services, evidenced by the ₹15.25 crore they splurged on him.

They are followed by the muscular Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, the tremendously gifted Hyderabadi youngster Tilak Varma, the effervescent Suryakumar Yadav, the hard-hitting Aussie Tim David and the wonderfully versatile South African Tristan Stubbs. As a unit, this collection is designed to send shivers down the spines of all opposition, no matter how well stocked their bowling might be.

And yet, in their two matches so far, Mumbai have managed just 171 and 157 on reasonably good batting decks. And therein lies the genesis of the predicament in which they find themselves.

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Mumbai’s batsmen have underachieved significantly, the rot starting at the top with Rohit unable to impose himself. Against RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, he was tied up in knots by Mohammed Siraj and perished to a 10-ball one; at the Wankhede, he was a lot more proactive, chipping down the track twice in the first over to hit Deepak Chahar over the top before being undone by a beauty from Tushar Deshpande.

Hopes pinned on Suryakumar

More than Rohit’s lack of big runs, though, Mumbai will be desperate for a return to form of Suryakumar. The 360-degree player has been a vital cog in their batting wheel from the time he moved over from Kolkata Knight Riders, and can switch gears effortlessly, as he has shown time and again.

Ranked No 1 in the world in the ICC T20I individual batting ratings, Suryakumar is going through a horror run. A hat-trick of first-ball dismissals in the ODI series against Australia last month has spilled over to the IPL. In Bengaluru, he was dismissed by an innocuous delivery, picking out point unerringly with the cut, while at his home ground, he was again victim to the fickleness of fortune, caught superbly down the legside by Dhoni off the glove as he sought to sweep Mitchell Santner.

It’s a run of terrible luck that will end at some stage – it has to – but Mumbai might be better off returning Suryakumar to No 3, where he has played some of the most impactful knocks for his franchise. For India, with Virat Kohli occupying the one-down position, Suryakumar has slotted in seamlessly at No 4, but he offers greater value at his preferred No 3 for Mumbai and with Green not exactly making that place his own, it won’t be the worst idea for Suryakumar and the giant Aussie to swap places.

The reasoning behind Suryakumar in the middle order could be how quickly he can get on top of quality spin, but with momentum not on their side and a first win imperative to rejuvenate their campaign, the case for the right-hander to move up the order is a strong one.

Won’t go down without a fight

If there’s one thing Mumbai have reiterated repeatedly in the past, it is that they won’t go down without a fight. Rohit has admittedly looked a little clueless to staunch the bleeding when batsmen get on a roll – like Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli did in Bengaluru and Ajinkya Rahane in Mumbai – but he has spent enough time under and with Dhoni for the latter’s calmness and intuitive bowling changes not to rub off on him.

Rohit himself is an astute leader whose reading of the game is second to none, but he is currently being let down by his marquee performers with both bat and ball, himself included. For someone who prides himself on leading from the front and setting the tone, the stage has been laid out neatly for Rohit to make a statement. If that doesn’t revitalise Mumbai Indians, then little else will.