Following Mumbai Indians' (MI) 18-run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions entered the record books for an unwanted reason. They became just the third team to lose their sixth straight match at the start of the season. MI have lost all six of their matches this season, and only two other teams have lost their first six fixtures in an IPL campaign - the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils (DD) in 2013, and then Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2019.
Here, we look at these particular seasons and their eventual positions on the points table:
Delhi Daredevils (2013 IPL season)
This team was led by former Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene, who is also the current coach for MI. The former IPL side kicked off their season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). After losing that match by six wickets, the Daredevils went on to suffer defeats against Rajasthan Royals (RR), MI, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), RCB, and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They finally ended their drought against Mumbai, who also went on to win their first IPL trophy, while DD finished at the bottom of the table in ninth.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (2019 IPL season)
During the 2019 season, RCB suffered one of their worst starts to a campaign in the IPL. The Virat Kohli-led side began the season in a very underwhelming fashion, having lost to the Super Kings by seven wickets. These were followed by defeats to MI, SRH, RR, KKR and the Delhi Capitals (DC). However, a strong finish saw the side win four of their last six matches but they still finished at the bottom of the league level on points with Rajasthan (11).
Mumbai Indians (2022 IPL season)
The ongoing season has been a horror show from the Mumbai team. Leading the side is Rohit Sharma, and the added pressure of captaining the country as well as seemingly affected the star opener's decision-making ability. They lost their opening match to Rajasthan and then lost consecutive matches against KKR, RCB, and Punjab Kings (PBKS). On Saturday, they equalled the record for the worst start to an IPL season with their loss against LSG. Pushing for a place in the top four is almost out of the hands of the Mumbai team after Saturday's loss.
