Bangladesh vs. India, Only Test: What Sort Of A Match Have We Got In Front Of Us?

Ravi Shastri's presence in the dressing room will have a positive impact on the Indian players

Team India are all set to take on Bangladesh in the solitary Test Match, which kicks off in a couple of days' time and will be played at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.

The tour of Bangladesh is India's first assignment after their disappointing semifinal loss to Australia in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Though this series may not render major implications for Virat Kohli and company, it presents them with an opportunity to grow as a Test side and assess their best combination in this format of the game.

In addition, with no disrespect to the hosts, Kohli has a great chance to register his first victory as the official Test captain of Indian cricket team.

The hosts, though, are a dangerous side in their own right and, unlike their illustrious opponents, have no pressure of winning, which in turn gives them the license to go out and express themselves.

Their squad for this solitary Test match is filled with exuberant and talented youngsters, who will look at playing India as an opportunity to announce themselves on the world stage.

For most cricket fans, Bangladesh playing India may not cause much intrigue, but the contest, considering the visitors' palpable weaknesses in the Test match arena, will definitely be closer than what people think.

India

The Indian selection committee led by Sandip Patil, has named a very strong side that does not have many changes from the one which toured Australia at the fag end of last year: Harbhajan Singh has replaced Suresh Raina, while Mohammed Shami is out injured and the spinning duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have been left out.

Harbhajan Singh is expected to play alongside Ravichandran Ashwin, in Fatullah

Also, from the original 15-man squad named for the only Test against Bangladesh, Lokesh Rahul looks set to miss out due to dengue.

The Indian batsmen did well during the tour of Australia, notching up over 300 runs on 5 of the 8 occasions they got to bat in the 4-match Test series.

Virat Kohli led from the front, scoring 692 runs to go along with 4 centuries from 8 innings. He was ably supported by Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 482 and 399 runs, respectively, providing that indispensable solidity at the top and in the middle-order.

Rahul was the only other batsman to score a century for India, who, in hindsight, may have made a better first of it had their bowlers showed more potency and not let Steven Smith, who bailed his side out of trouble on many an occasion during the series, score as many runs - 769 overall - as he did.

Going into the Test against Bangladesh, the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikhar Dhawan will look to start scoring runs for the national side again, after enduring two barren series (if you include the tour of England, as well) from their respective point of views.

Rohit Sharma's place in the playing XI remains uncertain, I believe, unless Kohli opts to play just four specialist bowlers, like previous Indian Test captains have done, or axes Pujara.

It will be rather intriguing to see what sort of playing XI the visitors go into the Test with, especially with a new skipper taking over the mantle from MS Dhoni, who captained India in 60 Tests, and proclaiming that he is going to be aggressive and bring a winning mentality to the Indian Test setup.

Kohli has a major task on his hands to turn India into a good Test side

I would like to see the Delhi dasher start playing 5 bowlers from this Test onwards, emphasizing on picking 20 wickets to win Test matches.

In that case, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav would be my three fast bowlers, with Harbhajan and Ravichandran Ashwin as the two spinners to lead the way in sub-continent conditions.

You expect the Indian batsmen to score heavily, though the Bangladesh bowling attack cannot be underestimated and is capable of posing problems. The contest between India's batting and Bangladesh's bowling will be one to watch out for.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh played well against Pakistan, and will look to repeat it against India

The hosts have not made any changes to their Test squad from the one that put up a brave fight against Pakistan last month, losing the 2-match series 1-0 as a result of two poor batting displays in the second Test.

Shahadat Hossain, who twisted his right knee during the 2nd Test against Pakistan, has not made it to the squad for the solitary Test match against India, while Mahmudullah Riyad is also set to miss the entire series including the 3 one-dayers due to a fracture on his left index finger.

It appears that Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh's Test captain, could also be out for the solitary Test with a finger sprain, which could dent the hosts's batting lineup even further.

Most Bangladeshi batsmen scored runs against Pakistan and will look to carry that form into the Test match against India.

The middle-order, though, will have to be shouldered by Shakib Al Hasan, with Mahmudullah out and Mushfiqur uncertain to lead the side. If the wicket-keeper batsman does miss out, Tamim Iqbal will be the one to captain the team and Litton Das will keep wickets.

Imrul Kayes, the opening partner for Tamim, is a typical Test batsman, who will be key to his side keeping the Indian bowlers at bay. He is capable of blunting the new ball and holding one end up, which can in turn help the more explosive batsmen in the side play their natural game.

If you exclude Tamim, Kayes and Shakib from the hosts' batting lineup, the other batsmen - Soumya Sarkar and Shuvagata Hom - are novices at the Test level, having only played 8 matches between them, and that could have a major impact on the result of this game.

It is, therefore, important that Mushfiqur gets fit and leads the side, which will be of much boost to their batting lineup in particular.

Bangladesh will depend heavily on Shakib to score runs and take wickets

Bangladesh's bowling attack is inexplicably inexperienced, and much will depend on Rubel Hossain's pace bowling with the new ball and Shakib's left-arm spin bowling whenever he comes on to bowl.

Mohammad Shahid made his Test debut against Pakistan, and gave a decent account of himself with both the bat and ball.

Taijul Islam, another left-arm spinner, was one of the star performers with the ball for Bangladesh when they played Pakistan, picking up 10 wickets in the 2-match Test series.

If Bangladesh are to make a match out of this, their batsmen have to stand up and score runs. Importantly, not capitulate. Their bowling attack, albeit not an impressive one, can match India's; especially with the host of spinning options they have at their disposal.

Final Thought

Team India, unlike their efficiency in the shorter formats of the game, are not a good Test side by any means. Kohli taking over is a new chapter in the Indian cricketing history, and it remains to be seen if the change in leadership affects the team positively.

Bangladesh, therefore, have to be brave while they bat and somehow post over 300, if they get to bat first, as bowling is the visitors' weak link and still has question marks over its ability to pick 20 wickets in a Test match.

Can The Mumbai Indians Dominate The IPL In The Seasons To Come?

Mumbai Indians clinched their second IPL title in style last Sunday

Mumbai Indians (MI) won their second Indian Premier League (IPL) title last Sunday, when they easily defeated six-time finalists Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 41 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, a venue where they won their 1st IPL title and against the same opposition, too, a couple of years ago.

It was such an imperious performance from Rohit Sharma's men, who were not even given a smidgen of chance of qualifying for the playoffs after they lost their first four games and looked like a disjointed unit altogether.

The turnaround began with a 18-run victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where their batsmen collectively came good for the first time in the tournament and the bowlers did enough to stop the Royal Challengers from scoring 210 in response.

The victory in Bangalore was followed by a massive loss to the Delhi Daredevils (DD) at the Feroz Shah Kotla, and Mumbai were languishing at the bottom of the table with a mere two points from six games.

However, a run of five straight victories against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi and Chennai, in that order, saw MI get closer to the playoff positions and put themselves in serious contention to make it to the last four for the sixth consecutive season.

The thrilling last over victory against Chennai, which was sealed by an exhilarating batting partnership between Hardik Pandya and the ever-reliable Ambati Rayudu, was followed by a defeat to RCB at the Wankhede Stadium; it pushed Mumbai into a tight corner, as they needed to win their remaining two games against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers, in order to qualify.

Royal Challengers were unfortunate with the weather playing spoilsport in their last game against Delhi, with a washout there restricting them to just seven wins from 14 league games and meant that they could only get to 16 points.

Therefore, MI, going into their last league game, were in a position where a win over Sunrisers, would see them move into second place behind CSK, on the basis of winning a game more than RCB, whose better net run-rate than Mumbai was overlooked.

A comfortable 9-wicket victory against David Warner's side helped the Indians progress into the playoffs, with the Qualifier 1 being held at the Wankhede Stadium, their fortress.

Dhoni's devils were the opposition, again, and Mumbai, batting first, piled up a massive 187/6 on the board, with Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Parthiv Patel scoring heavily and helping their team post such a huge total.

Chennai's batsmen kept their team in it until the first half of their innings. But a two-wicket over from Harbhajan Singh, dismissing Suresh Raina and Dhoni in the 11th of CSK's innings, brought the game under Mumbai's control and they went onto register a comfortable 25-run victory that saw them progress to their 3rd IPL final.

In the finals, they were once again pitted against Chennai, who defeated the Royal Challengers by 3 wickets in the second qualifier, and MI started the game as favorites for the title.

Dhoni, maybe, committed a howler in winning the toss and asking Mumbai to bat first, an opportunity they took full advantage of by posting 202/5 from their 20 overs.

The visitors' batting lineup didn't have a good season, and it showed on the night of the finals, when they failed to pace their innings well and Mumbai bowlers, led by Lasith Malinga, proved a hot cup of coffee to handle for the Chennai stroke-makers.

Mumbai, with a comprehensive 41-run win in the finals, became the third IPL side to have won two titles, along with Chennai and the Knight Riders. With the clinching of the trophy, Mumbai completed their turnaround, which, it has to be said, happened away from the spotlight.

The subsequent question, after winning the 2nd title in three years, is whether Rohit and company can dominate the league in the seasons to follow.

Read on...

Throughout the 8th edition of the IPL, everyone involved with the Nita Ambani-owned franchise kept reiterating the belief within the squad.

Ricky Ponting was a winner in his playing days, and his presence would have been valuable for Mumbai

Ricky Ponting was appointed the head-coach prior to the season, and though he didn't have any coaching pedigree prior to taking up the role with MI, he was a winner right throughout his playing career.

I think the Tasmanian's personality would have been key to instilling the winning mentality within the squad, which didn't have many decorated T20 players other than Malinga and Pollard.

Going forward, belief is something Mumbai need to have in abundance, if they are to dominate the league. But, with the 'Punter' supervising proceedings for the Indians, you can be rest assured that he will keep the players motivated and have them striving for consistency in the seasons to follow.

Talking of consistency, though, in a relatively long season, you are bound to have ups and downs and, if you want to be competing for the title, you need to have the quality to bounce back from defeats.

Mumbai, with 9 victories from their final 10 games, showed that they can go on a run of victories and have what it takes to recover from a string of defeats, too.

However, on that note, they need to be better prepared for next season and not make another horrendous start to their campaign, like they have done over the last couple of seasons.

Having won the title in the 2015 season and done so with a settled lineup for most of the second half, I feel that Mumbai probably can start off smoothly in 2016, when they will be defending their title.

Also, Pollard's form with the bat was one of the marquee reasons for his side going all the way and getting the job done on the finals day. He has lacked a bit of consistency while playing for MI since joining the franchise in 2010 but, in the two IPL winning seasons, the hard-hitting West Indian has made serious contributions with the bat.

Pollard has been a vital cog in the MI ranks in both their title-winning seasons

Pollard made 420 runs in the 2013 season, and garnered 419 runs in 2015, proving his significance to the side while batting in that No.4, No.5 and No.6 positions. Holding onto him is going to be important, as he forms the core of the Mumbai lineup.

Simmons has had two mind-boggling seasons back-to-back for the Indians, scoring 934 runs in 21 innings and repeatedly showing that he can play the long innings, which has what made him standout from the other batsmen in the side.

In addition to the Pollard-Simmons duo, the likes of Rayudu, Pandya, Rohit and Parthiv, played a crucial role in their side putting up totals on the board and also chasing them down on a couple of occasions. Rayudu, in particular, was consistent throughout the 2015 season, playing match-winning knocks against Delhi and Rajasthan at the Wankhede, and Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Such a batting lineup looks good on paper, and all of them showed good form in the season that has just been completed. A lot will depend on their batsmen if Mumbai are to dominate the IPL in the coming seasons, because batting has always been their strongest suit.

Now, the bowling department did comeback strongly in 2015 after being taken to the cleaners by Brendon McCullum at home; by Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla and also by the likes of KKR and Kings XI, who found it pretty easy to score over 170 runs against the MI bowling attack during the first half of the recently concluded IPL season.

The main reason, however, for such poor bowling performances was Malinga's wretched form at the beginning of the campaign. Someone like Steven Smith showed utter disdain in his treatment of the Sri Lankan quickie, who went for massive runs and couldn't buy more than one wicket, at least for the first four games of the season.

Malinga has delivered the goods season after season for MI, however, it cannot be a good thing to rely heavily on him. Injury to Corey Anderson, in particular, was a blessing in disguise for the 2015 IPL champions, who then brought in Mitchell McClenaghan and started tasting success from that point onwards. The New Zealand seamer bowled well since coming in, but the form of Malinga picked up, too, as the season progressed.

While the Malinga-McClenaghan bowling combination does bode well for the future, Mumbai need to look for an Indian bowler who can at least be half as good as the aforementioned overseas duo.

Vinay Kumar was an unimpressive buy, for me, and he was the weak link in his side's bowling attack that even had someone like Jagadeesha Suchith, the 21-year old Karnataka left-arm orthodox spinner, thriving on his first taste of the IPL and picking up 10 wickets from 13 games, and really did bowl well for the Indians.

Harbhajan Singh picked up 18 wickets from 15 games and proved his worth once again. His performances for Mumbai earned him a call-up to the national side that has been picked for the one-off Test match against Bangladesh next month.

MI found success with that playing XI, which was not a world-beating one by any means.

Rohit showed wonderful leadership qualities, and was pivotal to MI winning the title

Let us not overlook the leadership qualities of Rohit, who showed a good head on his shoulders and tactically was very adept at the way he concealed the chinks in his side's bowling attack. Therefore, a big portion of the success has to be attributed to Rohit, as well, for the way he led the side.

However, MI need better Indian players than the ones - Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Suyal, Unmukt Chand, Aditya Tare, Shreyas Gopal, Pragyan Ojha, Akshay Wakhare, Siddesh Lad, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nitish Rana - who were part of their title-winning 2015 season.

They need to strengthen the side massively if they are to continue winning titles and, even better, dominate the league.

Final Thought

Mumbai winning the title in the season that has just finished is one of 'the' success stories of the IPL history.

No other IPL outfit boasts of the kind of backroom staff MI have in place

They have by far the most immaculate backroom staff - Jonty Rhodes, Robin Singh, Shane Bond and Sachin Tendulkar, in addition to the head-coach - compared to the other franchises, and we cannot underestimate the impact they would have had in the Indians turning around their form.

MI played as a unit and it was their team performances during the second half of the season, that won them the title. As aforementioned, however, they need to bring in better Indian players to complement the good overseas personnel at their disposal.

They have the necessary tools to dominate the IPL scene, and that has to be the next target for the franchise.

IPL 2015, Qualifier 1: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Chennai Super Kings

MI got the better of CSK once again, beating them for the 11th time overall

Mumbai Indians (MI) once again came out in flying colors against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who were comfortably beaten by 25 runs in Qualifier 1 of the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mumbai were actually the visitors for yesterday's game that took place at the Wankhede Stadium, where, over the years, they have been hard to beat, winning 65% of their games (40) played at this venue.

They have turned things around remarkably well during the last fortnight, and were probably the confident of the two sides ahead of the clash against the Super Kings.

Rohit Sharma won the toss, and had no hesitation in batting first, which has been their forte this season, winning 66% of their games (9) in which they have batted first.

Chennai's new ball bowlers - Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashish Nehra - started off well, giving nothing away to the Mumbai openers, who had to work really hard to garner even singles.

Things, however, changed quickly in the 5th over, which saw Ashwin come on for his 3rd and last over on the night, conceding 13 runs and getting Mumbai's innings started.

Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel started scoring boundaries from both ends, and shifted the pressure back onto MS Dhoni and his bowlers. Simmons, in particular, scored boundaries at will and batted with great flair against spinners, as well as the fast bowlers.

This duo once again laid a solid foundation for their side, and put on 90 for the first wicket before Parthiv fell to Dwayne Bravo, attempting to cross-bat a slower delivery over mid-wicket.

Mumbai, though, kept hitting the boundaries and maintained pressure on the Super Kings, who were not getting the wickets in a canter until very late in the first innings.

The visitors reached 135/2 by the end of 15th over, and looked likely to post a total close to 190. However, there was a shift in momentum after the strategic time-out, with the hosts taking 2/6 from overs 16 and 17, putting Mumbai in a real spot of bother.

The Indians, with Kieron Pollard striking it crisply, were still in with a chance of reaching somewhere over 170. They ended up with 187 on the board, a total that gave them real advantage.

They began their bowling innings in grandiose fashion, with Lasith Malinga dismissing Dwayne Smith, a former Mumbai Indian, in the very first over of Chennai's innings. It was a contentious decision made by Richard Illingworth, but it didn't matter for Mumbai.

Faf du Plessis walked in at No.3 ahead of Suresh Raina, and attacked the Mumbai bowlers from the beginning. The South African played a loose shot in the 4th over bowled by Vinay Kumar, who was unlucky to not have his scalp after being dropped at third-man by Malinga.

At the other end, Michael Hussey hit a couple of boundaries, but wasn't posing many problems to Rohit and co., who preferred bowling to the Western Australian.

Chennai, though, had to take the initiative of going after the MI bowlers, and when they did, it resulted in false strokes and fall of wickets. du Plessis held fort at one end, and got into a bit of partnership with Raina, who showed intent from the word go and struck a couple of beautiful sixes in his innings of 25 (20).

He, however, got out at the wrong time from CSK's perspective, with Harbhajan Singh also dismissing Dhoni in the very next delivery he bowled. The hosts quickly stumbled to 86/4 by the 11th over and Mumbai had the equation well under their control.

Chennai never managed to build partnerships after the fall of their skipper, with the likes of Bravo and Ashwin playing cameo innings' that weren't good enough for their side.

Malinga picked up a couple of wickets to bowl out Chennai in the 19th over, and help his side seal their spot in the Finals of IPL 2015, which will take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 4 days time.

In hindsight, what did we learn from a clinical MI performance? Read on...

This game had a good ebb and flow to it

Right from the word go, this game felt like a big one, played by two very capable T20 sides.

Mumbai had a distinct advantage over Dhoni's devils, since they were playing in front of their home crowd and, most importantly, have been in good form during the latter stages of the ongoing season.

Chennai, on the other hand, have always thrived on occasions such as last night and were fully deserving of their place in the first qualifier.

Dhoni was very tactical in the way he utilized his new ball bowlers, as he not only tried to dry up the runs, but pick at least two Mumbai wickets in the powerplay itself.

There were a couple of edges - inside of Simmons' willow and outside of Parthiv' - that sped away to the boundary and frustrated the Chennai bowlers, who kept a lid on Mumbai until the 5th over of their innings.

From that point on until the end of the 15th over, however, Mumbai scored a whopping 113 runs for the loss of both their openers, to put themselves in a position of real strength.

Yesterday's game ebbed and flowed nicely, causing great intrigue for the neutrals

Chennai, though, came roaring back and bought a couple of wickets in the 16th and 17th over, to set MI back and enhance their chances of restricting the batting side to no more than 170.

They, however, were unsuccessful in their ambitions, letting Mumbai get up to 187 and face a massive proposition of chasing them down, even though there were no demons on the wicket and had the batting firepower to get the job done.

Malinga dismissed Smith early, and gave a head start to his side's bowling innings. That wicket didn't work in Mumbai's advantage, though, as du Plessis came out all guns blazing and started scoring boundaries from the outset.

Mumbai strung in some cheap overs in the first half of CSK's innings, but there were a few expensive ones too, with Raina and du Plessis threatening to take the game away from the visitors.

Victory for the visitors became certain once Harbhajan got two wickets - Raina and Dhoni - in the 11th over, and it became a no contest from then on.

But, for almost 3/4th of the game, there was so much of an ebb and flow to it, and from the neutrals' point of view, it was wonderful to see two sides compete so well in such a high profile IPL fixture.

Things went perfectly to plan for Mumbai

In the end, when Mumbai reflect on the game, it really couldn't have scripted itself better.

Batting first, as aforementioned, has been their forte this season, and they got to do just that after Rohit won the toss.

Simmons' 65 (51) set Mumbai on their way to posting a big total

Their openers got the team off to a solid start after surviving a few scary moments, and batted until the 11th over before Patel got out. It meant that the likes of Rohit, Pollard and Hardik Pandya, could come in and start playing their natural game right from the beginning.

In the last five overs of their innings, they scored only 52 runs despite the last three overs going for 46, and didn't really score as heavily as they have done on previous occasions this season. But still managed to get to a total - 187/6 - that they would have been happy with. 

When they came out to bowl, the onus was on them to pick early wickets and make the scoreboard pressure get onto the home side. 

They were lucky to dismiss Smith, but Mumbai never let CSK run away with the game, even when the likes of du Plessis and Raina played a few good shots and kept the required run-rate under control. Harbhajan's brilliant 11th over helped them get a firm grip on proceedings, and go onto win the game by a comfortable 25-run margin.

Therefore, Mumbai would be mighty pleased with their performance that was up to the mark on a big occasion like last night, and against a good Chennai side. 

Pollard's 41 (17) had a gargantuan impact on proceedings

The West Indian has been having a very good season, and he continued his good work in his side's demolition of Chennai.

He came into bat in the 14th over, which was the ideal scenario for him, as well as Mumbai, because of the fact that he would, in any way, have enough deliveries to catapult Mumbai to a total in excess of 180, at least.

He got in on the act straightaway, hitting a couple of sixes off Negi and pushing Mumbai's run-rate to 9 runs-per-over. The visitors then lost a couple of wickets - Rohit and Pandya - which made Pollard's presence in the middle even more significant.

Pollard played 'the' game-changing innings

He was batting on 17 from 9 balls when Bravo began the 18th over, in which Pollard hit a six and took a single from only the two deliveries he got to face. It turned out to be a 15-run over for the visitors, who suddenly went from 141/4 to 156/4 with two overs to go.

Mohit Sharma was in line to bowl the 19th over, which cost CSK 15 runs again: Pollard's presence in the middle put Mohit off his line, and the Haryana seamer bowled three wide deliveries and was taken for a six and four by the hard-hitting right-hander, who was playing an absolutely priceless innings for Mumbai.

In the final over the innings, bowled by compatriot Bravo, he once again forced the bowler into making unforced errors and also hit an utterly flat six, helping his side realize a mammoth 187/6 at the end of 20 overs.

Bravo, in particular, was difficult to get away because of his constant changing of pace, and no MI batsman, other than Pollard, was able to score a boundary from the all-rounder's bowling efforts yesterday.

Pollard's innings not only got the score to 187, but Chennai, going into the dressing room for the change over, would have been upset by the amount of runs (46) they conceded in the last three, after having Mumbai on the mat at 141/4 when the 18th over began.

That, for me, was the game changing aspect. Pollard was rewarded for that innings with the man-of-the-match award, which was well deserved.

Chennai's middle order needed to do more

The performance of Chennai's middle order has been nowhere close to good enough from the very beginning of the season.

Yesterday, chasing 188, it was all about them, unless Smith and Hussey got their team off to a prolific start and didn't lose a wicket until the halfway point of their innings.

That, however, didn't happen and Smith was wrongly adjudged leg-before by the umpire in the very first over of their innings.

In walked du Plessis, who steadied the ship and gave real impetus to CSK's innings. Hussey got out for 16 (11) in the 6th over, and someone like Raina had to stand up and play the long innings.

Harbhajan bowled the game-changing 11th over, dismissing Raina and Dhoni

He too started off well, and struck a couple of delightful sixes, but had to carry on and take the game forward for his side. Harbhajan bowled really well to dismiss him in the 11th over, which proved to be the match-deciding one that also saw Dhoni get out for a golden duck.

This has been a shocking IPL season with the bat for the Indian ODI skipper who, despite scoring 328 runs in 15 innings so far in the tournament, has had very little impact on his side while batting in that middle order.

Bravo replaced Dhoni, and took way too much time to settle down while the required run-rate was getting out of control.

du Plessis, in trying to get a move on at a crucial stage in the innings, got a leading edge while looking to loft Jagadeesha Suchith over long off, and ended up giving a catch to Vinay, the fielder at long-on.

Put together, the quartet of du Plessis, Raina, Dhoni and Bravo scored a mere 90 (70) and it proved to be a detriment to their side's chances of chasing down 188.

In hindsight, we probably got to commend Brendon McCullum for his heroics with the bat at the top of the order. He gave Chennai many a quick start and probably disguised the palpable weakness in the middle order; with him gone now, we are getting to see the original picture.

Rohit was astute in the way he juggled his bowling options

Rohit has every right to be proud of himself for his astuteness as a skipper

Rohit's captaincy stood out once again yesterday, when he superbly handled his bowling resources and brought the best out of them.

Malinga and McClenaghan started from either end, with the new ball, and the Sri Lankan quickie picked up the wicket of Smith in his very first over. McClenaghan had a poor day, and his first over on the night went for a whopping 17 runs; his outing didn't get any better thereafter, and finished with figures of 3-0-46-1.

Rohit didn't persist with the New Zealander, and brought on Vinay from his end for the 4th over of Chennai's innings.

The Karnataka Ranji skipper put in probably his best bowling performance of the season, and repaid the faith shown on him by the team management. He dismissed Hussey in the 6th over of the innings, and should have had du Plessis too a couple of overs earlier, if not for Malinga's drop at third-man.

Over the course of this season, we have seen Rohit utilize Suchith for a couple of overs in the mandatory powerplay. The scenario was different last night and Rohit, the skipper, was willing to adapt to the demands of it: Raina was batting at one end, and a left-hander usually favors facing the left-arm orthodox spinner, therefore, it was sensible from Rohit to hold him back.

That was one impressive aspect of his captaincy, as well as his choice of bowlers at various stages of CSK's innings.

Also, he let Harbhajan bowl from one end, and complete his 4 overs on the trot. It showed that Rohit meant business, and was going for the wickets instead of sitting back and letting the game run its course.

Mind you, such bowling changes and tactical decisions paid off superbly, and took Mumbai into the third IPL finals in their history.

Final Thought

It was a comprehensive performance from MI, who excelled in all three departments of the game.

A win against the Super Kings was also a good way to sign off from the Wankhede fortress, and get their minds firmly fixed on winning back the trophy that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took it from them last year.

Mumbai must definitely be oozing with confidence, and should be comfortable taking on any of the three sides - Chennai, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) - in the grand IPL final this Sunday.

IPL 2015: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Kings XI Punjab

Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their 4th win of this season's Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL), and the third win on the trot, as they comfortably defeated a demoralized Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) side by 23 runs and got themselves up to 8 points on the IPL table.

Rohit Sharma, as he did in the last couple of games, won the toss against George Bailey's Kings XI and had no hesitation in batting first on what was a two-paced track.

The visitors were unchanged from the side that played and won against Rajasthan Royals (RR), while the hosts made four changes to the side that lost by 9 wickets to Delhi Daredevils (DD): Murali Vijay came in for Manan Vohra; Glenn Maxwell replaced Shaun Marsh; Karanveer Singh came in place of Shardul Thakur and Mitchell John replaced Thisara Perera.

The Mumbai openers - Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons - as they have been doing in recent games, got the team off to a terrific start, putting up a partnership of 111 for the first wicket, before Parthiv perished.

The visitors, however, couldn't pile on the runs thereafter, and the likes of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and even the well set Simmons, found it hard to score boundaries towards the latter stages of the MI innings.

The Kings XI bowlers also need to be credited for the way they came back into the game and bowled those yorkers at will, to tie down the visitors' batsmen who can be so hard to stop normally.

Mumbai finished with 172/3 at the end of 20 overs - a score that would not have satisfied them after the kind of start they had made, even though it got harder to bat as the innings wore on.

MI's bowlers needed to strike early after their batsmen failed to post a total close to 200, and they responded brilliantly, with Lasith Malinga removing Virender Sehwag in the first ball of his spell and all other bowlers chipping in with wickets and economical overs throughout the hosts' innings.

It was yet another comprehensive victory that not only would have boosted MI's confidence even more, but has also given them a realistic chance of being involved in the playoffs.

In hindsight, what did we learn from that Mumbai performance? Read on...

Punjab's new ball bowlers played it into Mumbai's hands

Mumbai have had this perennial problem of not being able to find a solid opening pair, and that has continued this season too, except for the last 5 games in which Parthiv and Simmons have really put their best foot forward.

Prior to the game I felt Punjab needed to pick up early wickets and get into that shaky Mumbai middle-order as quickly as possible.

Anureet Singh and Sandeep Sharma were all over the place, to start off with

However, Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh, bowlers who have done well so far this season, failed to make a disciplined start and both the Mumbai openers cashed in on the freebies Punjab bowlers provided them with.

Mumbai's score kept soaring with each passing over and, before Kings XI managed to stem the flow of runs, the damage had been done by as early as the 10th over.

Erratic bowling from the Punjab bowlers to start off with benefited Mumbai immensely and it also meant that the visitors, despite scoring just 62 runs off the last 8 overs, still managed to put up a competitive total on the board.

Parthiv played an absolute gem of a knock

The wicket-keeper batsman has had his fair share of criticism for not converting the good starts he usually makes while opening the innings, not only this year but also in previous seasons with various franchises.

This season, he has been continuing that bad habit of getting dismissed after making good starts to his innings' and playing himself in during the initial overs. Before yesterday, his highest score for the season was a mere 28 and he, more than anyone else, would have been disappointed at his own performances.

Parthiv's innings was absolutely magnificent

However, there was definite spunk about the way he approached his innings, picking the right balls to hit and emphasizing on timing his shots, rather than looking to hit the ball hard.

His first scoring short of the evening was a crisply struck cover-drive that sped away to the boundary. It was a magnificent way to start off the innings but, in Parthiv's case, it was not something we haven't seen before. The question, therefore, was whether he could carry on yesterday, and he did, finally.

The diminutive southpaw really got going in the 5th over of the innings, which was delivered by Johnson who conceded 15 off his first over, including a six and a couple of boundaries to Parthiv, who really was in his zone.

Once he got into a free-scoring rhythm, Parthiv didn't slow down and instead assumed the role of the aggressor in the partnership between him and Simmons, being assured in his approach and playing pure cricketing shots.

He got out trying to hit a six in the 13th over of innings, holding out to deep square leg after playing a good pick up shot off his pads.

His innings of 59 (36), punctuated by five 4s and three 6s, was an absolute delight to watch and proved significant in the overall context of the game, as other Mumbai batsmen, including the well set Simmons, found it really hard to score runs in the last third of the innings.

Mumbai's bowling attack just keeps getting better

MI's bowling was probably their weakest suit not so long ago. However, they have turned it around so quickly after ignominiously failing to defend a competitive score of 184 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium earlier this season.

The addition of Mitchell McClenaghan has helped, obviously, with the New Zealand seamer picking wickets and keeping things tight when he is not dismissing batsmen.

Let us also not forget his match-winning spells of 4-0-20-3 and 4-0-31-3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Royals, respectively, in back-to-back games that started off this revival for Mumbai.

Malinga's bowling too has improved as the season has progressed, and the Sri Lankan quickie has become really accurate with his yorkers and slower deliveries over the last couple of games. Mumbai will especially be delighted with the form of Malinga, who has been their talisman over the years in the IPL.

Mumbai's bowling attack has pulled up its socks as the season has progressed

Against the Kings XI, it was a very good performance from the entire Mumbai bowling attack, as every specialist bowler performed his trade very well and made it hard for the hosts' batsmen to score runs freely.

It was particularly pleasing to see Jagadeesha Suchith and Vinay Kumar bowl economically and not disrupt the good work done by the trio of Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and McClenaghan.

The decision to stick with the playing XI is reaping the desired rewards

Over the course of the last five games, 4 of which have been won by Mumbai, something or the other has not looked right and we have asked ourselves why the team management has been hesitant to make changes to the playing XI.

The likes of Vinay, Unmukt Chand and even Parthiv, prior to yesterday, didn't make major contributions to the team's cause and the other players, therefore, had to shoulder the majority of the responsibility.

It has been much more of a team effort in the last couple of games

However, against the Kings XI, it was definitely a team effort, with all 11 men contributing either with the bat, ball, or on the field, taking a catch or stopping a boundary.

Vinay took a very good catch to dismiss Maxwell, and probably bowled his best spell - 3-0-17-0 - so far this season.

Chand didn't get to bat, but took a good running catch to dismiss Vijay. And as far as he is concerned, we definitely need to say that the team management, despite being let down by the youngster on occasions already this season, continues to believe and persevere in this individual.

Like Vinay and Chand, persevering with Parthiv also paid dividends yesterday.

The credit has to be the given to the team management for their nous and belief they have shown in their players.

MI need to keep their heads down

MI produced a terrific all-round display against Punjab, which arguably is the best they have done so far this season.

However, having said that, the caliber of today's opponents also needs to be taken into account and, honestly, Kings XI are nowhere near the kind of the side they were last season, as was admitted by Sanjay Bangar, the KXIP coach, midway through his side's innings.

Mumbai definitely deserve the points and credit for their performance yesterday, but I feel that they weren't pushed enough by Punjab, to assess themselves as a unit.

MI need to refocus immediately

Rohit's men have kept getting better as the season has progressed, but they have far bigger challenges to come and need to refocus immediately.

Final Thought

Mumbai are up against the Daredevils next, and they will be playing J-P Duminy's side at the Wankhede fortress.

The Indians will be relatively confident of repeating yesterday's performance against KXIP, but the result of tomorrow's game will have far greater repercussions on both sides' chances of making it to the playoffs.

Mumbai, therefore, will be under greater pressure than yesterday, enabling us to get a better idea of how improved they are as a unit.

Indian Premier League 2015, 32nd Match Preview: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai batsmen, starting with Rohit, need to pull up their socks

Mumbai Indians (MI) kick start their second phase of this season's Pepsi Indian Premier League with a home game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday.

Mumbai are yet to post back-to-back victories this season, and will be looking to do just that when the Royals travel to the Wankhede Stadium tomorrow.

The Royals, on other hand, come into this game on the back of two washed out fixtures, including yesterday's against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and may just be feeling a bit desperate to play a full game.

These two sides produced a humdinger in the corresponding fixture at the Wankhede last season, and with the race for top 4 intensifying with each passing game; could we be in for another exhilarating contest?

Read on...as we get an understanding of how the sides stack up against each other, heading into tomorrow night's encounter.

Mumbai

MI's victories this season have come while they have batted first and put up competitive totals on the board.

Lendl Simmons starred with half-centuries in his side's victories against RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and, just as it was season, is a vital cog in this stuttering Mumbai outfit.

Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been the two other MI batsmen to have made substantial contributions, with each one of them scoring over 200 runs so far in the tournament.

Although the aforementioned trio will once again hold the key against the Royals, the likes of Unmukt Chand, Parthiv Patel and Ambati Rayudu, if they play, ought to stand up and score runs for the team.

Chand, in particular, needs to score runs, as his tally of 89 runs from 4 innings, including a half-century against the Royal Challengers, doesn't reflect his potential and batting position (No.3) in the side.

If he comes good with the bat, not only will Mumbai score a lot more runs as a batting unit, but the likes of Pollard and Rohit, who are the power-hitters in the side, can play carefree cricket which will only bring the best of them.

The bowling attack has also failed to deliver except for one game against Sunrisers, who couldn't chase down a mere 158 in MI's last game.

Lasith Malinga, however, found some form in that game, picking up 4 wickets, and was tremendously backed up by Mitchell McClenaghan, who picked up 3 wickets himself.

Harbhajan Singh, despite having a poor outing against SRH, is the second highest wicket-taker, behind Malinga's 10, with 8 wickets under his belt so far. Harbhajan has also made crucial runs with the bat in certain games, and will be crucial to MI's success during the second phase of this season.

The trio of Malinga, McClenaghan and Harbhajan are certainties in Mumbai's playing XI, but which two bowlers complete the 5-man bowling attack Ricky Ponting and Rohit covet?

Jagadeesha Suchith bowled well in the win over SRH and exudes a calm head on his shoulders. If I was part of the team management, I would stick with him, solely on the basis of his performance in the last game.

Vinay Kumar, having taken just 1 wicket in 5 games and conceding close to 8 runs per over, is the weak link as far as Mumbai's bowling attack is concerned.

The alternatives for Vinay - Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Gopal - haven't done well whenever they have been given chances, so it will be a tricky decision for the team management to take. But the Karnataka seamer, without a shadow of doubt, is the weak link in the bowling department.

Going into this game, I have no doubt that the batting lineup has to step up and deliver. The bowling attack, despite the presence of Malinga, McClenaghan and Harbhajan, remains Mumbai's weakest point, and looks likely to only feed off big totals set by the batsmen.

Rajasthan

The Royals are the team to have played the most games (9) already this season.

They won their first five games and had that invincibility about them, as they bulldozed the likes of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Mumbai - teams that couldn't stand up to the might of Rajasthan.

Two of Royals' last four games have been washed out

The last four games, however, haven't gone to plan, as they lost in the super over to the Kings XI and were handed a thrashing at the Motera by Virat Kohli and company. Those two defeats have been followed by two washouts, keeping RR win-less for four games now.

The Royals though, unlike Mumbai, do not have major problems concerning them.

Ajinkya Rahane, their opening batsman, is the Orange Cap holder with 323 runs under his belt.

Though the other batsmen haven't exactly played to potential so far, their contributions - even if for one game - helped Rajasthan win the games in which they fired with the bat.

Steve Smith, despite having scored just 172 runs in 7 innings so far, engineered his side to victory with a 53-ball 79 against Mumbai when these sides met at the Motera earlier this season.

Shane Watson, in his very first game of the season, scored a 47-ball 73 to guide his side to an 8-wicket victory over CSK.

However, the Royals' middle-order packed with exuberant Indian talents in Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda and Karun Nair, has yet to fire, and it could be one area for Mumbai to exploit the visitors tomorrow. Pick early wickets and get a stranglehold of the game, is what the hosts will be telling themselves right now.

Coming to the Royals' bowling, Pravin Tambe, the 44-year old leg-spinner, is the leading wicket-taker with 8 wickets to his name.

However, the likes of Tim Southee, James Faulkner, Dhawal Kulkarni and Watson himself, make up a good bowling attack that will fancy its chances under lights at the Wankhede.

Compared to Mumbai, Rajasthan look a well-balanced side, even though they too have a few weaknesses in their arsenal.

Also, having gone win-less in 4 games, there could be a smidgen of apprehension in the Royals' ranks, meaning that MI will be in with a shout if they play to potential.

Possible playing XIs

Mumbai: R Sharma (C), P Patel (WK), L Simmons, U Chand, K Pollard, A Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, H Singh, L Malinga, M McClenaghan and J Suchith.

Rajasthan: S Watson (C), A Rahane, S Smith, D Hooda, K Nair, Stuart Binny, S Samson (WK), J Faulkner, T Southee, P Tambe and D Kulkarni.

Final Thought

Aditya Tare was the hero in the corresponding fixture last season

Mumbai are yet to produce one comprehensive display in the 7 games they have played so far. From the Indians' perspective, it is now or never time for them and it remains to be seen whether they are up for this crunch situation.

Rajasthan are in second place on the table and do not have the kind of pressure their Friday's opponents are under. That could give them the edge over tomorrow's hosts.

This should be an intriguing fixture; but Rajasthan, with a more-balanced look to their side, start as favorites for this encounter at the Wankhede tomorrow.

Indian Premier League (IPL): Can The Mumbai Indians Get Their Act Together Against Sunrisers Hyderabad?

Rohit has to continue performing with the bat for the Mumbai Indians

After playing two back-to-back away games, Mumbai Indians (MI) will return to their fortress, the Wankhede Stadium, to take on the mercurial Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) later today.

The Indians' only victory of the campaign came against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), which was a closely contested battle at the Chinnaswamy Stadium where the visitors that day did well to pile on an impressive 209 on the board and followed it up with a decent bowling effort to restrict the Challengers to 191, going on to win the game by 18 runs.

Mumbai have been overwhelmed in each of their other 5 games, as they just haven't been able to deliver with either the bat, ball or on the field.

However, having said that, the likes of Harbhajan Singh, skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have come good on occasions during this campaign and will hope to contribute to the team's cause once again against the Sunrisers.

More than the individual performances, from MI's perspective: the question is whether everyone in that playing XI can contribute in some way or another, starting today against SRH? Read on... as we try to discern what the 1-time IPL winners need to do in order to get their second win of the campaign.

The foremost concern for the Indians going into today's game will be the nature of the playing surface at the Wankhede: benign, good for batting and not really bowler-friendly. Though MI's batting has flattered to deceive, except for one game against RCB, it is their bowling that has let them down more than their batting.

MI bowlers need to dislodge the Warner-Dhawan duo quickly

Sunrisers do not possess too many hard-hitting batsmen in their arsenal, except for the duo of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. However, both these men are in very good form, scored half-centuries in their side's last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders and will be licking their lips ahead of the clash against Mumbai.

Considering the palpable weaknesses in the bowling department and that this is a 4.00 PM start, Rohit should have no hesitation in batting first, if he wins the toss.

I thought that it was a mistake on the MI skipper's part to decide to bowl first against the Delhi Daredevils (DD), who piled on 190 on the board and took the game away from Mumbai. Therefore, toss, from MI's perspective, will be critical to their chances of winning this game.

Team Combination

Ricky Ponting and company ought to get their team combination totally spot on. Ambati Rayudu hasn't done much while batting in that No.6 and No.7 positions, and I don't think he can render much if he is persisted with at that position. Can he open? There are better options than him.

Rayudu, therefore, ideally should make way for a bowler, preferably Shreyas Gopal, who knows how to bat and is a good leg-spinner, too.

The other change I would make to the playing XI is that of Parthiv Patel. The wicket-keeper batsman has failed to harness his opportunity at the top of the order and, with a top score of 28 in 4 games, deserves to make way for Aditya Tare, who can be a dangerous middle-order batsman.

Batting Order

There should be no messing about with Lendl Simmons' place at the top of the order, but, who should partner him?

Unmukt Chand has to be promoted to the top of the MI batting order

Unmukt Chand has looked good during his last two outings against RCB and DD, and it would be a no brainer to get him to open the innings, making space for Rohit Sharma, who is arguably the team's best batsman, at No.3. That top 3, hopefully, should augur well for the Indians.

MI shouldn't be flustered by who bats at No.4, as it will all depend on how the top three perform. Rohit's best position is at No.3, as he can then play the anchor role for the team and have other batsmen play around him.

If all goes well, Pollard should walk in at No.4, a position that might even give him some time to settle in before going for extravagant strokes. The Caribbean dasher will obviously be followed by Hardik Pandya who, with his cameo innings of 16 from 4 balls against the Royal Challengers, showed that he can render quick runs with the bat and should, in all possibility, go in at No.5

Tare at No.6 will be a good option for the stuttering Mumbai Indians, who need their batsmen to deliver the goods while the bowling remains a major worry.

Bowling

The addition of Gopal will add more potency to the MI bowling attack, as the Karnataka leg-spinner will be a good foil for Harbhajan, who has toiled away as the solitary spinner in the side for much of this campaign.

The addition of another spinner to the bowling attack will also mean that Lasith Malinga, who has taken 6 wickets in 6 games so far this campaign, need not necessarily be brought on during the middle stages of the opposition's innings.

Jasprit Bumrah will look to comeback strongly after his no-show against the Daredevils on Thursday, when he bowled a lot of short-pitched deliveries that were dealt with severely by JP Duminy and Shreyas Iyer.

Mitchell McClenaghan needs to get more consistent and not be satisfied with just bowling well in patches.

Final Thought

The aforementioned blueprint should be the way to go for the two-time CLT20 winners, who cannot afford to lose today's game that could all but end their chances of making it to the playoffs.

The bowling remains 'the' biggest worry as far as MI are concerned, and today's result might just hinge on their bowling performance because of the nature of the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium.

IPL 8: Is There a Way Back For The Listless Mumbai Indians?

Mumbai Indians are yet to produce a convincing display this season

Mumbai Indians(MI) slumped to their 5th defeat in 6 Indian Premier League(IPL) games, against the Delhi Daredevils last night.

Rohit Sharma's men just haven't got going this season, and it looks increasingly likely that their season is fast petering out. Ricky Ponting, the new head coach of the franchise, and company haven't been able to find their best playing XI till this point of the season but, to their defence, the MI squad has mediocrity written all over it. With just 7 more games to play in the season and needing at least 6 wins from the remaining fixtures, can the 1-time IPL winners turn it around?

Aaron Finch, the new recruit from Sunrisers Hyderabad, didn't play well in the first two games of his Mumbai Indians' career, following which he suffered a severe hamstring injury while batting against Rajasthan Royals and flew back home for treatment.

Lendl Simmons, who single-handedly carried them into the playoffs last season, has stepped into Finch's shoes and looked good while he has been in the middle. However, the Caribbean dasher has yet to produce consistent scores and Mumbai subsequently haven't flourished at the top.

In addition to their woes at the top of the innings, the middle order, barring Rohit, has been largely vulnerable, too. Corey Anderson, who scored 2 half-centuries while his side batted first in the games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL season due to a fractured finger, and the hard-hitting Southpaw's absence could make MI's middle-order even more lightweight.

Kieron Pollard has been good this season, smacking two half-centuries and rendering much needed runs while batting in the No.5 and No.6 positions. If the Indians are to turn to their season around, Pollard's form with the bat will be rather indispensable.

It is the lack of contributions from batsmen other than the trio of Rohit, Anderson and Pollard, that has caused all sorts of problems for MI so far this season. Parthiv Patel isn't a power-hitter and, in trying to accelerate the scoring rate, the diminutive wicket-keeper batsman has failed to render any sort of substance while opening the batting.

Ambati Rayudu, a very important cog in the MI juggernaut since his debut season of 2010, hasn't delivered whenever his side has needed it the most, though his quick fire 29 off 16 balls against the Chennai Super Kings cannot go unnoticed.

Unmukt Chand scored an eye-catching 58 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, when he batted in the No.3 position, found that balance between scoring boundaries and picking up singles to keep the scoreboard moving. But then, the 2012 U-19 world cup winning captain couldn't follow it up last night, which is disappointing.

In a nutshell: even though the Mumbai Indians have scored in excess of 160 in 4 of their 6 games so far, their batting has yet to fire as a unit and that simply cannot bode well for a team that needs to win close to 90% of its remaining games.

While the performances of the batting unit have not been good enough, the bowling department has yet to deliver even one convincing display so far in the tournament.

Harbhajan Singh is the leading wicket-taker in the side, taking 8 wickets and conceding a shade above 8 runs to the over.

Lasith Malinga has had a below-par season so far

Lasith Malinga, a backbone in MI's resurgence since the 3rd season of the IPL, has been woefully out of form. The likes of Steve Smith and Brendon McCullum have scored boundaries at will against the unorthodox Sri Lankan quickie who, in addition to not being able to pick wickets, has found it hard to keep things tight during his 4 overs. Malinga has picked up 6 wickets in 6 games so far but, more worryingly, has been conceding more than 8.3 runs to the over which simply hasn't been good enough for his side.

While Harbhajan and Malinga have not been at their best so far, the likes of Vinay Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Suyal and Jagadeesha Suchith have failed to come up with the goods. The aforementioned quartet have been taken for plenty of runs by opposition batsmen, and taken a mere 5 wickets between them although none of them have played in all 6 games.

Mitchell McClenaghan, the left-arm fast bowler from New Zealand, has bowled well in patches in his side's last two games, but even he has failed to stem the hemorrhage of boundaries.

The Mumbai bowling attack has taken more than 5 opposition wickets only on one occasion this season and it is easy to see why: Malinga has been far from his best so far; and the lack of a solid second spinner to deputize for the reliable Harbhajan, has meant that MI have struggled to keep a lid on the opposition scoring freely.

To compound matters for the two-time CL T20 winners, their fielding has let them down too on occasions. Against the Knight Riders in the opening game of the season, having piled up a competitive 168/3 on the board, the team's failure to hold on to its catches handed an easy victory to the defending IPL Champions. Their fielding hasn't improved since that defeat, either.

When I look at ways that MI can turn their season around, the bowling simply has got to come good sooner than later. The batting, despite its inconsistency, is in safe hands, though Ponting and co. need to sort out the opening combination.

Even though we are almost at the half-way mark in this year's IPL, it is tough to discern the minimum number of points Mumbai need from their remaining 7 games. But in all honesty, they ought to target a minimum of 6 victories from their remaining games and it will be a monumental achievement if they do make it to the playoffs this time around too.