Buck Up Mumbai

The Champions League T20 is underway and the first day produced an upset. The unfancied Highveld Lions got across the Mumbai Indians in the opener at the Wanderers in Johannesburg just going on to show the unpredictable nature of the game. Highveld Lions got everything right but the Mumbai Indians made a few mistakes which cost them the game.
T20 may be a game which is unpredictable but if you make some elementary mistakes, then you have really got yourself in a curry. Mumbai Indians made far too many mistakes on the field. They could have fielded much better. There were misfields, overthrows etc, and some of them were simple mistakes. The margin just speaks for itself, the mistakes, the difference between the two sides. The bowling is, I think is too dependent on Lasith Malinga who being human can also have an off day. Zaheer is making his comeback after an injury lay off and Harbhajan is finding his form. Malinga may have got the wickets to show but he wasn’t his usual self. He was trying to many slower ones for the liking and should have stuck to his natural slinging Yorkers. In hindsight, it wasn’t a very good decision to give Zaheer the last over. He is coming back after a long layoff and is short on match practice. He will get better as the tournament goes on but for the first match Malinga should have bolwed the final over. The over in question cost Mumbai 17 and that was just about required by them in the last over while they were batting. If Mumbai wants to bounce back, the bowlers will have to get into the act soon. McLaren should be used more as he showed during the West Indies tour that he can be very effective. He may have been a bit wayward in his first over but then he is the local man and should be given a good share in the overs. Again, Mumbai shouldn’t start the innings with McLaren, Zaheer and Malinga should share the new ball and McLaren should bowl first change.
The batting was satisfactory. Dhawan gave a decent start but Sachin was simply brilliant. Some of the shots he played were out of the world. The chip over point and the sweep to fine leg stood out. Duminy and Pollard reduced the pressure but then Pollard got out and the wrong time and as Harsha Bhogle pointed out in commentary that Duminy isn’t a natural slogger but will hit it when it is in the slot. For a start I think Dhawan can be a little quicker. He may have hit the boundaries but I think he played to many dot balls for the liking. Sachin plays the anchor role and still manages to maintain a fantastic strike rate but if Dhawan too joins in then it will really ease the pressure of Tendulkar and will certainly help Mumbai’s cause. Rayadu is a good choice for number 3 and maybe if the situation requires then Pollard can be sent for that role. This team really requires another batsman. Tiwary when fit will walk in and Mumbai will hope for his quick recovery.
There is still a lot of time but Mumbai has to sort these problems out soon to help their case for qualification to the semis. Hopefully they get it right and we also hope to see more sparkling innings from the Master Sachin Tendulkar.