Hard facts first. Mumbai Indians put 244 on the board at the Wankhede – their biggest first-innings haul in the IPL. Sunrisers Hyderabad ticked that off with eight balls unused, winning by seven wickets and leaving MI joint-bottom with Lucknow Super Giants on four points from eight. Net run-rate is MI’s only small comfort.
Right, how did it unravel?
Hardik Pandya won the toss, chose to bat – a break from the venue’s recent trend. “I don’t think dew played much of a role, just that they [SRH] played some good shots,” he said. For context, captains had bowled first in the previous 21 Wankhede games, expecting the evening moisture to skid the ball on. Hardik went the other way, and for six overs it all looked rosy: 79 without loss, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan busy, and later a 244-for-4 finish.
The chase, though, started in fifth gear. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma clattered 92 in the powerplay. Two chances went down off Head – Naman Dhir the culprit both times – and Will Jacks spilled a tough one at midwicket. There was also an unspotted edge that could have been sent upstairs. “It’s been that kind of season,” Hardik sighed. “When you get a couple of chances, you grab them, that’s when luck and momentum changes.”
By the halfway mark SRH needed a run-a-ball, and Mumbai’s bowling – unusually toothless – could not apply the brakes. Jasprit Bumrah’s 0 for 54 was his fourth-most expensive spell in any T20, a statistic nobody at MI ever expects to read. Gerald Coetzee and Luke Wood travelled too. Impact Player Shardul Thakur never even got the ball. “I think 244, I think I’ll back my bowlers to stop it, but yeah, some other day. Today we could not execute,” Hardik admitted.
Numbers behind the slide
• MI have fielded 22 players already, more than any other side this season.
• They concede 11.4 per over in the powerplay – worst in the league.
• Their captain’s returns are modest: 131 runs at a strike-rate of 136, eight wickets at 10.2 an over.
Hardik knows the optics are poor. “I think this season we don’t have much option,” he said when asked about combinations. “I won’t put my bowlers under the bus. I think as an overall unit, we have not been able to do what exactly Mumbai Indians stands for.”
Former India selector Saba Karim, speaking on the host broadcast, reckoned Hardik “has looked a touch under-rhythm with both bat and ball – maybe the back injury still plays on his mind”. Ex-MI seamer Mitchell McClenaghan put it more bluntly: “He’s searching for overs that just aren’t there.”
Tactically, MI’s quandary is clear enough. They need Bumrah for the death, yet can’t afford a 12-run-an-over powerplay. Their part-time options – Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera – aren’t trusted. And shaving a batter for an extra frontline bowler means breaking up a top six that finally fired.
Small upsides? Rohit’s 76 (38) looked vintage. Tim David closed the innings with 24 off seven, launching Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the top tier. Fans did find voice again after a fortnight of glum exits. But the table is cold. Four points from eight requires at least six wins from the last six to sniff the play-offs – a streak MI have not produced since 2020.
“We really need to see what we need to work on, and it’s fine,” Hardik insisted, trying to stay upbeat. “We have passionate owners, we have a passionate support staff, we all will figure out something.”
For now, though, the five-time champions are searching. Another missed chance, another bruising evening, and a skipper honest enough to admit: “Today we could not execute.”
