Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has revealed that he is not very optimistic about Mumbai Indian’s (MI) chances of making it into the playoffs of the ongoing IPL 2024.
The five-time champions are in decline following a surprise pre-season captaincy change in which Rohit Sharma was abruptly replaced by Hardik Pandya. They must win all five of their remaining games to have a chance of making the playoffs.
Hardik Pandya was not well received as MI captain, especially after Rohit Sharma, who won five IPL titles with MI, was replaced as skipper. This criticism was exacerbated by MI’s loss of six out of nine matches, and they now need to win all of their remaining matches to have a chance.
Australia captain Michael Clarke reckons the Mumbai Indians camp is divided into groups, hindering players from functioning cohesively. And he said that he doesn’t see MI making it into the playoffs this season.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s wishful thinking for Mumbai this entire IPL. I think there’s a lot more going on than what we are seeing on the outside and you can’t have that many good players and perform this inconsistently.
“So, I think there are different groups inside that changing room and something is not working, they are not gelling together, they are not playing as a team,” Clarke said on Star Sports Cricket Live.
Michael Clarke says individual brilliance can help MI win some matches, but a divided unit cannot win a tournament
Despite possessing experienced match winners such as Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya, Tim David, and Jasprit Bumrah, MI has struggled to find victory this season, with six losses from nine games. Their three victories can be ascribed to the individual skill of pacer Bumrah and big-hitter Romario Shepherd.
“Individual brilliance can get them over the line, if Rohit Sharma comes in and gets another hundred or Hardik does something with the bat, or Bumrah bowls like a genius again, you never know.
“I think to win big tournaments you need to be a team and not just have individual performances and unfortunately, they haven’t played well as a team so I hope they turn it around, but I can’t see them winning this game,” he added.
MI will next face Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday in Lucknow.
Also Read: Sanju Samson Left Out As Varun Aaron Names His India T20 World Cup 2024 Squad
