In a long tournament like IPL, judjing a team's potential and abilities after four losses on the trot is unfair. And, Mumbai Indians proved that they cannot be dismissed easily in the manner in which they bounced back in style by registering an easy win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru earlier this week.
Their maiden victory this season has certainly given confidence to the former champions, but they have a big task of keeping that momentum going. Which is what the Rohit Sharma-led outfit will be keen to do when they take on hosts Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Thursday.
An inconsistent Delhi, on the other hand, will look to break the jinx. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday inflicted a six-wicket loss on Delhi, handing them their ninth straight home defeat since 2013.
The Jean-Paul Duminy-led side had bounced back with two wins after two opening losses to snap their 11-match losing streak. Winning two of their four close encounters in this season, DD looked like a well-balanced side until defending champions KKR exposed their weaknesses.
The Mumbai Indians have been struggling in both departments – batting and bowling. Apart from their skipper Sharma, the rest have been inconsistent. However, big hitters like Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson have started to show form. While opener Unmukt Chand has begun to show some spark, especially after his match-winning half-century against RCB.
MI's has been a big let down. They have a mix of experienced and inexperienced which is working against them.
Only veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been in top form, picking up eight wickets from four games, a rank behind top wicket-taker Tahir (10 scalps in 5 matches).
With a mix of youth and experience, Delhi's batting seemed to respond well with the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Duminy and Yuvraj Singh coming good in the initial games. But Iyer, Yuvraj and Manoj Tiwary squandered away decent starts against a potent KKR attack.
Even the bowling, which had looked threatening with Tahir, Amit Mishra and Nathan Coulter-Nile picking wickets, phased out against the strong KKR line-up, led by skipper Gautam Gambhir.
Assistant coach Praveen Amre, however, remained optimistic and termed this failure as a one-odd outing. He promised the team would once again get back to winning ways against their fierce city rivals.
"We still have three games here and the two away wins were also important for us. I think the next game we play against Mumbai Indians will be very important for us," said the former India cricketer.
–With inputs from PTI
