Mumbai Indians were rocked even before the tournament started. Hardik Pandya was purchased from Gujarat Titans for an undisclosed sum. We can assume that it was an exorbitant one. No one at that time would have anticipated what was about to happen. At first, everyone would have thought that this was done merely to ensure that the franchise had sufficient muscle power during the lower end of the innings now that Kieran Pollard has retired. Pandya played for Mumbai for a very longtime when they decided not to retain him. The shock came a little later when Pandya replaced Rohit as the captain. That was when it dawned on everyone the real reason for hiring Pandya. It started what was a confusing season for Mumbai.
There were a lot of disgruntled players within the Mumbai Indians setup. Jasprit Bumrah and Surya Yadav Tweeted cryptic posts thereby signalling their intentions. However, I felt that this was waiting to happen. Rohit has been the captain for more than 8 years. Being the captain of any sporting side for that long, will dent a captain’s capability. He or she would have gone past their sell-by-date and it is time to look to the future. That is exactly what the franchise owner did. This is a professional sport. This is how things are. There is no need for his supporters to feel disheartened.
Change in captaincy and changes in personnel will keep on happening in professional sports. Yes, Rohit did win 5 trophies but that was in the past. Rohit is 37 looking towards the end of his career but IPL will go on. Hence, MI is justified in planning for the future.
Rude crowd behaviour
Having said that, what transpired on the field was something unseen. The Mumbai crowd were rude towards Pandya. In every game, he was booed for no mistake of his. Whether his captaincy was good or otherwise is not a point of discussion. The Mumbai crowd did not cover themselves with glory. Agreed, Rohit Sharma was successful and he took Mumbai to 5 title wins but that does not mean that he is irreplaceable as captain. Every team must plan for succession and that was what the Mumbai franchise did. The decision was taken and now the crowd must have stood behind Pandya.
It was unfortunate that Rohit Sharma did not think that it was necessary to calm the crowd down and ask them to get behind the captain. It is tough to imagine what Pandya would have underwent during that tumultuous period. To add salt to the injury, Gavaskar attacked the captaincy of Pandya. One would not have seen Gavaskar saying anything against any Mumbai player. We all know that he is a Rohit fan which clearly showed in him getting angry at Pandya. He must have directed his anger against the Ambani family who were the catalyst but Gavaskar choose to ignore them or remain silent.
Onto the tournament
It was a forgettable season for Mumbai. They finished at the bottom of the table with just 4 wins making them the only team not to reach double figures in terms of points. With the entire team sort of a strife, it looked like the team itself was short of direction and short of confidence. With the firepower at their disposal, Mumbai if not qualify, must have atleast given the others a run for their money. Ishan, Rohit, Pandya, Surya, Tilak and Bumrah are enough to make any team shudder. Instead, It did not befall that way. Pandya not batting with his usual zeal, Ishan Kishan was not sure of himself and Rohit’s cameos were not enough. Bumrah kept the franchise in the game every now and then but everyone else, let him down massively.
Boucher’s assessment
“Disappointing, to say the least,” Boucher told the media after the match.
“I thought after the auction that we had, we identified our bowlers as something we wanted to strengthen and we felt that we did that. Obviously at the beginning of the season, losing two of them wasn’t great for us but I still think that we had some great options. On paper, I thought that we’d do a lot better than what we’ve done,” he added.
“We just haven’t managed to put our batting and our bowling together in one single match. There’s always been one that’s let the other one down, which is unfortunate. But yes, extremely disappointed,” he said.
Best and worst performance of the season
When a team wins only 4 games out of 14, it is impossible to pick the worst performance of the season. Almost every game, they performed poorly. The batsmen failed collectively and the bowlers, with the exception of Bumrah, did not turn up during the games. As for their best performance, it came against the likes of RCB when Surya Yadav played a blinder. Otherwise, the season was nothing to write about.
Wrapping up confusing season for Mumbai
There is speculation that Rohit Sharma may not stay with the franchise but I do not think that it will happen. He is very much invested in the team. Pandya will continue as the captain but after 3 successive seasons of under-performance, the franchise will have to invest in good batsmen and bowlers who can serve them for 5 years.
Other blogs about Mumbai Indians
https://icricketcritique.com/will-bcci-take-action-against-mumbai-indians/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-form-of-mumbai-indians-is-worrying/
https://icricketcritique.com/review-of-mumbai-indians-in-ipl-2022/