“That’s why they are at the bottom” - Ajay Jadeja points out big reason for MI and CSK’s woes in IPL 2022

Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja feels that the lack of good bowling options at the start of the innings has hurt both the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2022. Jadeja pointed out that while both franchises managed to retain some of their key batters, they failed to boost their pace bowling departments.

While Mumbai retained Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the IPL auction, they picked the likes of Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat in February. Chennai were unlucky as Deepak Chahar picked up an injury ahead of the tournament and was recently ruled out of the entire edition. Apart from Dwayne Bravo, their pace bowling options include Chris Jordan, Mukesh Choudhary, Dwaine Pretorius and Tushar Deshpande.

According to the IPL timetable, Mumbai and Chennai will resume their IPL rivalry when the teams face-off in match 33 of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Speaking ahead of the game on Cricbuzz, Jadeja spoke about the struggles of the tournament’s two most successful IPL teams and said:

“The problem is that both Mumbai and Chennai don’t have good top-order bowlers. That’s why they are at the bottom.”

He added that a tearaway fast bowler could have boosted CSK’s hopes in IPL 2022. The 51-year-old opined:

“CSK are not known for making many changes. An out-and-out fast bowler could have helped, but it’s late now.”

While Mumbai are presently last in the IPL points table 2022, with six losses in as many games, Chennai are just above them, with two points from six matches.

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“This year, we might see some activity” - Ajay Jadeja feels MI and CSK might utilize trading window

Highlighting how Mumbai and Chennai are known for sticking to the core team, Jadeja admitted that we could see the two franchises active during the IPL 2022 trading window. He explained:

“These franchises haven’t used the trading window a lot, but this year, we might see some activity. A lot of sides have players who are on the bench. But I don’t see CSK making any drastic changes. They are just beginning to look in some sort of rhythm.”

Pointing out the positives in the Chennai camp, Jadeja said that some of the batters have impressed. He, however, urged skipper Ravindra Jadeja to bat higher in the order. The cricketer-turned-analyst concluded by saying:

“Robin Uthappa has repaid the faith, Ambati Rayudu batted well in the last game. Shivam Dube has done well. What has not worked for CSK is Ravindra Jadeja becoming captain and pushing himself down the order. Apart from batting order change, I don’t see any wholesale changes.”

Chennai went down against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their previous IPL 2022 match. Defending a total of 169, they reduced their opponents to 48 for four. However, a brilliant counter-attacking knock from David Miller (94* off 51) stunned CSK and handed them their fifth loss of the season.