IPL 2011: MI Needs to go a little harder at the Top

Mumbai proved they are the most consistent if not the best team in the tournament by dishing out a 21 run defeat on their neighbours Pune Warriors India. What this justifies is the decision of the MI think tank of retaining their core members from the last edition of IPL.

Mumbai have been clinical in most of their matches, be it batting, bowling or fielding.

Match Summary –

MI Batting first managed to pile up, 160 / 7 in 20 Overs

Pune in reply found the going really tough and could only manage 139 / 7 in 20 Overs.

But somewhere down the line as a hardcore MI fan, it puzzles me to the core in understanding their strategy of holding Andrew Symonds (Symoo) and Keiron Pollard way back down to Nos 6 and 7 in Batting order.

What this does is put undue pressure on these 2 players, as even a layman will agree that their role in team is to bludgeon the ball from the very 1^st ball they face. A strike rate of 100 to 110 for these guys will be considered a bad day in the office. But for them to fire at their best, Tendulkar and company will have to give them time at crease to have a sighter.

If I can vaguely remember, Pollard took around 10 balls to get his 9 runs, and then once set he just took 11 balls to get to his remaining 19 runs. That’s what happens when you give these sort of player’s time to settle down in middle.

Even yesterday, MI 160 was not a par score on that Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai pitch. If not for Pune, who have been struggling with a string of bad performances anything could have happened. Teams like Chennai, KKR, RCB, and Royals will not give you so much of leverage of scoring less than par, on a flat wicket. Given a slight opportunity these above mentioned teams will just run away with the contest.

For me, MI starting with Davvy / Blizzard and Sachin is fine, with Ambati at nos 3 acting as a perfect foil. But then if the above are able to stay on wicket for 10 to 12 overs, then without any doubt would love to see Andrew and Keiron Pollard to follow. In case we lose early wickets in one of the Openers or Ambati, then we can have Rohit coming in at nos 4.

I very well understand that MI think tank is working over time to get these guys (Andrew & Keiron) face as many balls as possible, but somehow to a fan like me their strategies is just not convincing.

After 3 Years of long wait would want MI to lay their hands on the coveted trophy at the end of IPL4, as anything below that would not justify for this fabulous team full of stars not only on papers but also because of their stupendous performances on the field.