Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have had a torrid season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 so far. While five-time champs MI, led by Rohit Sharma are winless after five games, Ravindra Jadeja's CSK, who've won the IPL four times, recently picked up their first win of the campaign after four consecutive losses.
Both sides have struggled in both batting and bowling departments, but it's the latter, which has been of a particular disappointment for both teams.
Injury to Deepak Chahar ahead of IPL 2022 was a big jolt to CSK, but many expected him to regain his fitness before the end of the camping, however, as per reports, he has been ruled out of the entire 2022 season, which comes as another hefty blow to the defending champs.
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On the other hand, for Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah has been a lone beacon of hope with the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Basil Thampi struggling to impress, and Jofra Archer not expected to join up with the franchise before next season.
As a consequence, MI are rooted to the foot of the league standings, without a single point this season, while CSK second bottom with just 2 points.
In the meantime, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has opined that CSK and MI being at the bottom of the table is actually good.
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Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag, who played for the Delhi franhise in the IPL, stated, "I said it before itself, let the rich teams stay at the bottom, Chennai and Mumbai, they look good at the bottom of the table."
Mumbai Indians suffered a 12-run defeat against Punjab Kings on Wednesday. Speaking about the five-time champs' struggles against PBKS, Sehwag added, "It is difficult to win after two such run outs. I don't think that Suryakumar Yadav knew that the final over will be bowled by either Odean Smith or Liam Livingstone. Had he known that, as much as 25 runs could have been kept in the bank for the final over."
Going forward, both Mumbai and Chennai will have their work cut out to qualify for the playoffs, and if their slump continues, their remaining games will all become must-win matches.
