Former Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh urged MI batters to play freely. He reiterated that the team’s big names have failed to step up on the big occasion. The five-time champions failed to get going in the league as they lost their first two games against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
Cricket-turned-commentator Harbhajan Singh analyzed the game between the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians on Star Sports, where he pointed out the concerns about Mumbai’s batting in the league so far, as none of their batters were able to make an impact in the match.
“We say this team’s bowling is their weakness but the batting has disappointed if we analyze it properly. The batters will have to score runs, then only your bowlers will come into the game,” Harbhajan Singh said.
Mumbai Indians’ batting was considered to be their strength with the likes of big names Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, and Tim David. They failed to fulfil their roles for the five-time champions and did not provide big totals for their bowlers to defend in the first two games.
“They are not playing freely. A big team plays freely. It didn’t seem that a five-time champion team would play this sort of cricket. They have big names in batting but they have disappointed in both the matches.”
Mumbai Indians started their innings very well before losing their skipper Rohit Sharma in the 4th over. Chennai Super Kings spinning duo Mitchell Santer and Ravindra Jadeja dominated the middle overs by bagging 5 wickets after conceding 48 runs from their 8 overs.
Cameron Green and Ishan Kishan Will Have To Score 70-90 Runs – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh urged the Mumbai Indians, youngsters, to take responsibility in their batting for the team citing the example of Tilak Varma, who batted brilliantly in the first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He also expects Tim David, Ishan Kishan, and Cameron Green to score more runs for the team.
“Tilak Varma was the hero in the first match but once Tilak Varma got out today, it seemed no one had the awareness. Tim David was there but he only knows how to play big shots, he doesn’t know how to take the game forward.
“The singles and doubles that Tilak took were good. So the youngsters like Cameron Green and Ishan Kishan will have to score 70-90 runs and even a century if possible,” he asserted.
Mumbai Indians will look to register their first win in the league stage when they take on Delhi Capitals in the third game on April 11, as they will look to address their top order and bowling woes as early as possible this season to avoid a repeat of last season, where they finished at the bottom of the points table.