IPL 2021: "The Mumbai Indians' fortune is no longer in their own hands" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Mumbai Indians' (MI) fate is no longer in their own hands as they have to depend on other results to qualify for the IPL 2021 playoffs.

The Mumbai Indians suffered a four-wicket defeat against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Saturday afternoon's Indian Premier League encounter. They are tied with three other teams who have garnered 10 points from 12 encounters, but have the worst net run rate amongst them.

While reflecting on the Mumbai Indians' loss in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Rohit Sharma-led side have an uphill task ahead of them. He explained:

"Mumbai is not going to 16. The Mumbai Indians' fortune is no longer in their own hands because they cannot go beyond 14 points. There can be a three-way or four-way tie. Delhi almost lost, last year they lost all four matches to Mumbai but this year have defeated them both times."

While speaking about their playing XI, the cricketer-turned-commentator observed the Mumbai Indians opted to go with Jayant Yadav considering the plethora of southpaws in the Delhi Capitals' batting lineup. Chopra said:

"Mumbai played Jayant Yadav, there is a red-ball specialist and a white-ball specialist, and then there is one Delhi Capitals specialist. That is the bowler Jayant Yadav. They play him every time they play Delhi, whether you play in Chennai, Dubai or Sharjah."

Yadav scalped the important wicket of Rishabh Pant, who was caught by Hardik Pandya at long-on while going for a big hit. However, he was slightly on the expensive side, considering that the Mumbai Indians were defending a lowly total as he was taken for 31 runs in his four-over spell.

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Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians' batting effort

Suryakumar Yadav was the Mumbai Indians' top run-scorer [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Mumbai Indians could only set a 130-run target despite their best efforts. He elaborated:

"The start was interesting. Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Avesh Khan and De Kock by Axar. Suryakumar Yadav made runs, he made 33 but got out playing a bad shot. Saurabh Tiwary, Pollard, Hardik Pandya - everyone tried but they reached only till 129."

The 44-year-old signed off by stating that the Mumbai Indians have not been their usual dominating selves in IPL 2021. Chopra observed:

"The Mumbai Indians proved once again that they are not playing fearlessly this year, they are playing timid. Batting first or second, they are just not looking the team that they are, that they are capable of."

The Mumbai Indians will need to put it across the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their two remaining league phase encounters. They will also hope for other results to go their way for them to make the IPL 2021 playoffs.