IPL 2014: RCB vs MI - How do Mumbai Indians go about resurrecting things?

Onus will be on Rohit Sharma to rejuvenate his troops ahead of the massive game

The defending IPL champions, Mumbai Indians, after kicking off their title defence with an insipid display against Kolkata Knight Riders, will look to come up with a stern response against the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The Mumbai Indians squad, which is described as one that lacks in depth, vindicated matters in their 1st game by playing two spinners and two pure-bred batting all-rounders (Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson), who failed to support a commendable performance from the experienced duo of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga. And, albeit the batting was equally inept, the game was nearly lost with some poor bowling in the latter half of the KKR innings when Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey ripped into Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack.

That said, what are the areas that the Mumbai Indians think-tank would have to address going into the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore?

If I were to be John Wright or Rohit Sharma, I’d question myself as to whether I want to play Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard together in the playing XI. Both of them being overseas players, curbs the leeway of maybe using a prodigious fast-bowling talent like Marchant De Lange or Josh Hazlewood. It’s a tough call no doubt, and more so when you’ve just brought in Corey Anderson, who has to be the marquee player in this IPL season, given his exploits since breaking into international cricket.

But, playing Josh Hazlewood or Marchant De Lange would make for a three-way fast-bowling attack, which will give you 12 decent overs on most days in T20 cricket. Add to that, 8 overs from 2 premier spinners, and 1 very capable medium-pacer in Kieron Pollard should get you the job done. This is one way of looking at the permutations and combinations on the bowling front.

On another side of the coin, if the same XI that played against KKR gets another go, which I think they will, here’s how Rohit Sharma could juggle around with the bowling elements in hand: Get one of your two premier spinners to bowl in the powerplay overs from one end, and Zaheer Khan from another. If your opening bowlers can keep a lid on the proceedings, a good part of Corey Anderson’s 4-over quota shall be used up in the first half of RCB’s innings. Having Malinga to bowl a major part of his overs post the 12-over mark will give you the indispensable control over proceedings.

Mind you, RCB’s batting line-up is gargantuan with some colossal stroke-makers inching to prove their critics wrong, and the margin for error will simply be null.

Yuvraj is one of the reasons why the margin for error is null

Coming to the batting line-up, there’s not a lot of tweaking needed. Rohit Sharma, irrespective of the circumstances, has to position himself at no.3 in the batting order, and Ambati Rayudu should be the one, who floats, depending on the state of the game/innings. But, even in the batting department, playing Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard just doesn’t look right to me.

Keeping everything aside, T20 cricket is largely about form and the way you feel about your game. So, I don’t think Mumbai Indians should be cringing about the massive defeat that they suffered against KKR, but coming up with a display that will give them a good chance of overcoming the rollicking Royal Challengers Bangalore should be the priority.

This game promises to be a fascinating contest, and I am backing the magnificent Mumbai Indians’ setup to go ahead and stuff their detractors’ mouths.

Ala re Ala!