The five-time IPL champions, the Mumbai Indians, have not had a good start in 2026 so far. After winning the first match, the Mumbai Indians struggled in the next four matches, which not only put them behind others in position but also affected their net run rate. In a tournament like IPL, where every margin counts, their low net run rate of -1.076 can affect them big in the business end of the league. MI is now positioned at number 9, winning one match, defeating KKR.
What is happening with the Mumbai Indians?
On paper, the Mumbai Indians are one of the best teams of this season as they have a very wonderful core and balanced side, but they are losing because of the poor form of the players; other than Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock, no other batsman has raised their hands, and they have failed to put up big scores. The World Cup-winning captain, Surya Kumar Yadav, has not had a great outing since the World Cup. He has lost the tune and has only shown a glimpse of his temperament; on the other hand, their overseas players have failed miserably, from Trent Boult to Mitchel Santner, and also Sherfane Rutherford, who played some clutch in the World Cup for the West Indies, has also lost the rhythm. Allah Ghazanfar, the young spin sensation from Afghanistan, also failed under pressure.
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After PBKS outplayed MI, Hardik Pandya, the MI captain, pointed out some key points in the post-match presentation, saying, "To be very honest, I don't have much to say right now. I think we really need to go back on the drawing board and see where we are lacking. Is it individuals? Is it as a group? Is it as planning? We'll just figure it out and see what we can do next.ā
These remarks made it very clear that the Blues are very much concerned about their recent performance.
What is lacking in the Mumbai dugout?
Other than batting, they are failing miserably in bowling; according to the data, the Mumbai Indians have conceded at least 11 runs per over this season, and thatās where they are lacking. The recent form of Bumrah has remained concerning. Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur had not done well recently. Stopping runs is more important than attacking bowling, and thatās where the Mumbai Indiansā bowling unit as a team has not been able to come as a group.
What can be the strongest XI of the Mumbai Indians if they had to make some hard calls?
Rohit Sharma, Quinton De Kock(WK), Ryan Rickelton, Hardik Pandya (C), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch/Mitchel Santner/Allah Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande / Raghu Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah.
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Impact Sub- Robin Minz/ Surya Kumar Yadav
