IPL 2021: "Mumbai Indians' engine room has lost confidence" - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan believes the root cause of Mumbai Indians (MI)'s dip in form in IPL 2021 is their batting engine room's lack of confidence.

The former England captain's remarks came while speaking to Cricbuzz after MI's heavy defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday. He said the MI batting lineup, particularly the middle order, is facing tough travails in the T20 format where a turnaround from poor form is the most difficult.

Michael Vaughan said:

"Particularly that engine room for the Mumbai Indians has lost the confidence, they haven't lost completely because they are all very good but just for this split second in their careers, a few of them have lost confidence."

He added:

"I think what it shows is that T20 cricket is the one format where if you lose your confidence as a batting group... it's the hardest to get back into form because you don't have the time, that element of the 50-over game where you can bat 10-15 balls or Test cricket where you can play for time. In T20 cricket you still have to be proactive and play your shots and then fortune might not go your way and you lose more confidence."

Chasing a sub-par target of 166, MI's middle-order couldn't capitalize on a brilliant start from the openers. None of the batsmen from no.3 onwards scored in double digits, with the innings collapsing from 79-1 to 111-10.

"MI is the only team that could possibly come out of this hole" - Michael Vaughan

MI now need to win all of their remaining four games to directly qualify for the IPL 2021 playoffs. Michael Vaughan believes the five-time IPL champions are the only ones who can do that, but it won't be easy unless the batting group regains its mojo.

Michael Vaughan added:

"You saw Ishan Kishan sitting on the chairs when the batters were coming too and fro and he sat with his head in his hand. Again, that's not a great look. You don't need that on TV screens that a young player like that is sat on the stairs with his head in his hands. I would say that Mumbai is the only team that could possibly come out of this hole and win the remaining games. But it's very hard when so many players have lost confidence with their batting."

MI will now play against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday in a match that could determine the fate of both teams.