The three-time IPL Champions Mumbai Indians haven’t begun their IPL campaign on a good note.
The most successful team in the tournament has lost three close matches, to begin with. They are the only winless team in the tournament so far.
However, we are well aware of this fact that Mumbai is considered as slow starters. Even in the past, they have come back from losing five matches on a bounce to winning the tournament.
The fortunes of the franchise have been heavily reliant on the services of skipper Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and speedster Jasprit Bumrah.
While Bumrah’s Yorkers and slower deliveries haven’t quite worked in the three matches so far, Hardik too hasn’t been at his best in either of the department. It has prompted former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar to state his elder brother Krunal Pandya has started his campaign better than his fan-favourite brother Hardik Pandya.
The younger of the Pandyas has just made 22 runs at a strike rate of 104 and has also conceded runs at an economy rate of 9.33. Hardik has been the standout performer for Mumbai for the last couple of years.
However, he hasn’t been able to deliver in this season so far. On the other hand, Krunal has been a top performer for Mumbai in the previous years.
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“Teams now know not to bring a spinner on when Hardik Pandya is batting, for he can smash them out of the ground. However, he does not find the seamers that easy to belt and so he will be confronted by most captains. Mumbai also must look at their tactic of bringing him on when the field restrictions are in place, for he can be expensive than his brother,” Gavaskar wrote for his column in the Times of India.
He has scored 67 runs with the bat so far and has conceded runs at an impressive economy rate of just 6.2.
“Krunal has been impressive with his canny left-arm spinners, and down the order, he keeps his cool and gets runs at a good clip without hitting the big sixes that his younger brother hits,” wrote Gavaskar.
The Mumbai Indians next face the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede. If they are not at the top of their game, they will have to wait longer to register their first points.
Photo by Vipin Pawar – Sportzpics – IPL
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