IPL 2018: Sunil Gavaskar says MI middle order failure reason for them being winless in IPL 11

RCB face MI in their home ground of Wankhede Stadium.

Sunil Gavaskar said that MI should be vary of the RCB top four

Mumbai Indians have lost all three of their matches in the IPL 2018 so far and now will be facing the challenge of the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai Indians have always been late starters in the tournament, but this time, they have lost all three of their matches in the last over of the match. Former India and Mumbai captain Sunil Gavaskar recently analyzed the problem behind Mumbai Indians performance recently in his column for the Times of India.

He wrote, “Teams batting first are now winning games if they put up a big score on the board. If they get off to a flier, then there is a good chance of them getting close to 200. That is often enough; as the chasing team is under pressure to keep up with the asking rate of nearly 10 runs an over.

He continued, “If then the chasing team loses a couple of wickets, the rate can climb to 12 or above, and that again piles up pressure, for not too many people are capable of taking their team over the line.

Gavaskar praised the valor of MS Dhoni and wrote, “MS Dhoni came very near to doing that against the Kings XI Punjab. His blistering attack fell just short but what a thrill it was to see him hit those big sixes.

Mumbai Indians haven't yet won a game and though they have been slow starters in the last few seasons of the IPL, they will be anxious to get on the points table as they are the only team so far without a point against their name,” wrote Gavaskar.

Rohit Sharma should think of MI middle order batting | AFP

He praised their tactic of sending Suryakumar to open, “Their tactic of sending Suryakumar Yadav to open worked brilliantly and with Evin Lewis and Ishan Kishan also scoring quickly, they were in a good position to post more than 200.

However, he highlighted the problem with MI writing, “However, the middle order let them down by poor shot selection. 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.

He continued, “Krunal has been impressive with his canny left arm spinners and down the order he keeps his cool and get runs at a good clip without hitting the big sixes that his younger brother hits.

Writing about the RCB, Gavaskar said, “They have a top four that is the envy of most other teams but they haven't as yet got the runs from them that will take them to victories. Kohli and de Villiers both love batting at the Wankhede and if they get going then Mumbai may have to wait for their points a bit longer.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 17 Apr, 2018

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