"MI will rightly be punished"- Fans roast defending champions after shambolic batting

Mumbai Indians (MI) once again failed to post a competitive total on the board after scoring just 131-6 in their 20 overs against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Rohit Sharma's sensational half-century was the only saving grace to what has been another shambolic batting performance from the defending champions.

Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav partially resurrected the MI innings through the middle overs. Things were set for the explosive middle-order of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers to give their innings a grandstand finish. However, they once again failed to deliver and PBKS will be delighted with the modest target of 132.

Twitter trolls MI batting after another failure

MI fans were frustrated to see their team's mighty batting line-up falter for the fifth game in a row. They believe it is too tough a job for their world-class bowling attack to defend this total. Others took a dig at the defending champions for not adjusting to the conditions. Here is what they had to say:

Hardik becoming a proper liability. #IPL2021

— Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx) April 23, 2021

Updated figures of IPL 2021 at ChennaiAB de Villiers - 125 runs in 66 ballsHardik - 36 runs in 37 ballsPollard - 65 runs in 56 ballsRussell - 45 runs in 40 ballsThat's 146 runs in 133 balls...BoundariesAB - 18Hardik + Pollard + Russell - 19#IPL2021

— JSK (@imjsk27) April 23, 2021

Rohit is just asking for 4-5 boundaries at the start from QdkRohit is just asking for strike rotation from IshanRohit is just asking for responsibility from HardikIts been 5 games on this ground still these FTBs aren't doing it for their Captain. Time to drop 2 out of these 3

— Saish 💫 (@CricketSaish45) April 23, 2021

No batting firepower! Not taking wickets in the powerplay! Dropping half chances!! Batting playing test knocks!! No chawla for 5 matches at chepauk!! Bad strategy overall!! #mi

— Sayam Raheja (@sayam_raheja) April 23, 2021

Mi fan when watching Ishan kishan batting #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/WVMAT9zXYF

— Akshay (@akki3212) April 23, 2021

PBKS bowlers to MI batting line up rn pic.twitter.com/BGAwCuKgvx

— Jeet Bhatt (@bhattjeet16) April 23, 2021

MI is making a hash out of the end overs, their famed power hitters failed to click once again..All in all a pretty low score for the gigantic batting lineup...#MIvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/zq7Z6bKlXE

— [email protected] (@learnzonepluss) April 23, 2021

MI will rightly be punished here for their conservative batting approach, batted like a team that wanted to put up an average score rather than a winning one.

— Kieran (@BerbaSpinCric) April 23, 2021

Me after watching #MI batting today ! pic.twitter.com/1s0lSY6JZ6

— Aditya Mohan (@AdityaMohan175) April 23, 2021

Yeah the pitch is slow and all, but you gotta adapt better playing 5 games in 2 weeks on the same pitch.T20 batting isn't just hitting sixes on flat Wankhede wickets.#MI #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/7EnxILEtJI

— Deepak Kumar Panda (@Deepsdkp) April 23, 2021

This MI batting performance is curing my insomnia 😴 #PBKSvMI #IPL2021

— Harshvadan (@stillHarshvadan) April 23, 2021

#MIvsDC #IPL #RohithSharma #Pant #MumbaiIndians #DelhiCapitals MI Fans After Seeing Mumbai Indians Batting Collapse pic.twitter.com/y7dA7crf3s

— Tulsi Verma (@IamTulsi20) April 20, 2021

Rohit carrying Mi batting lineup 😭 pic.twitter.com/99CvrXjBnd

— aivy (@SpiderPant) April 23, 2021

MI's approach in the powerplay was baffling to say the least, having scored just 21 runs in their first six overs. The move to send Ishan Kishan ahead of an in-form Suryakumar Yadav failed miserably as the southpaw could only manage 7 runs off 16 balls.

With four overs to go, MI had just lost two wickets and another score in the range of 150-160 looked quite possible. However, their explosive middle-order didn't fire and the defending champions looked at least 20 runs short.

To make matters worse, PBKS have got off to a flying start and at the time of writing require less than a run-a-ball to win the game. It seems only a miracle can save MI now as they stare down the barrel of a third defeat this season.

With the powerplay already proving costly, it remains to be seen whether the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and others can help MI end their Chennai leg on a high.