The five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have looked terribly miserable in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) with the eight straight losses so far in the tournament as they are still struggling to open their winning account. The Rohit Sharma-led side has failed to match their stature and the key reason behind this debacle is the misfiring bowling attack followed by inconsistent batting. Skipper Rohit is also battling a prolonged lean patch and has managed just 153 runs from eight outings, averaging 19.13.
Meanwhile, Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop talked in length about MI's persistent struggles in the 15th edition of the IPL and suggested that the franchise should be giving another chance to Tim David in the middle.
“When I spoke to Rohit after the last game, he seemed a broken man, understandably. It is a franchise with a great pedigree. I think they need some personnel changes,” Bishop said on Star Sports ahead of the clash between MI and Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday.
“Personally, I think they need Tim David. I don't know why he hasn't featured more often. They need someone in that batting lineup to get them to a more significant score to hold things, and maybe power up. Obviously, Suryakumar Yadav has been playing well,” he further added.
Bishop further said that he hopes for the MI to develop the players for the future, now that their hopes of a playoff qualification are all but over.
“Their bowling has been leaking runs at critical times in matches, so it's disappointing for them this year. But still they got to see how they can get out of it, and how they can develop some of those players going forward,” said Bishop.
MI are already out of contention for a play-off berth, having lost all their eight matches so far as they are languishing at the bottom of the table.
Rajasthan Royals, the MI's opponents on Saturday night, have produced dominant performances in the season so far and currently sit at the second position in the points table with 12 points in eight games.
Another concern for Mumbai is the poor run of form of all-rounder Kieron Pollard who is no longer the ‘finisher’ that he once used to be and the burly West Indian will need to display his six-hitting abilities.
