Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav walks off the ground after being dismissed during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians at Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi, Saturday. (PTI)
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has given a blunt remark on Mumbai Indians dismal show in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), saying the the players of the franchise are divided in different factions.
Mumbai Indians find themselves in a precarious position sitting ninth on the points table. They need to win all their matches to stay alive in the competition.
“I don’t know. I think its 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,” Clarke told Star Sports.
The five-time champions need to fire as a unit and the likes of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, premier T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav would be like to get into the rhythm and churn out some consistent performances ahead of the World Cup. All-rounder Pandya has flopped with the bat and ball this season. He did get his highest score this season the other day but more would be needed to make it to the World Cup squad.
“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,” said Clarke.
“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.”
MI bowlers struggled to find answers against young Jake Fraser-McGurk, who wreaked havoc in the Powerplay.
Even the world class Jasprit Bumrah conceded a 19-run over before returning to his frugal self while the likes of Luke Wood and skipper Hardik Pandya were pummelled into submission. They would look to do better.
“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 said.
Mumbai Indians will take on Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday in a must-win game game for them at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
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