The best part about a match between two rock-bottom teams is that one of them will come out of it feeling a little less miserable. The IPL 2022 contest on Thursday pits Mumbai Indians (MI) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in possibly one of the strangest games in the history of IPL. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians would presently do anything to register a win, while defending champs CSK are wondering when they’ll add to their pitiful two points. To make matters worse, there are now 10 teams in the fray, so that leaves CSK at 9th position to MI’s 10th. A sorry sight indeed.
With the progression of the league, the expressions in either dugouts have transformed from sombre to surprise, dismay and sheer consternation. The next one in line is dejection, followed by a fatalistic shrug (that’s when you pack your bags and leave).
Same goes for the fans. The CSK Yellow Army are going blue in the face, whistling for all they are worth, while Mumbai’s Blue Brigade is approaching something akin to an ashen complexion. But there are no such trials for the neutral. They can sit back and watch with vicarious pleasure, waiting to see which of these sides sinks further into the abyss of failure, from where recovery will be near impossible.
Missing Boult
The two champion teams are suffering the consequences of some miscalculations. Mumbai’s tactic to release Trent Boult hasn’t turned out well. The New Zealander was one of the most vital cogs in the Mumbai scheme of things since 2019 and irrespective of what the thought process was, it was flawed.
That one Boult spot has been offered to Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills and Jaydev Unadkat and all three combined haven’t been able to plug that gap. Resultantly, MI are fielding one fast bowler in Jasprit Bumrah and some loose change.
Even in the spin department, Rahul Chahar had delivered for them, but he’s not there. Everything else on offer looks pathetic at best.
One can safely say that MI’s performance so far has been as surprising as it has been disappointing. But they still aren’t completely out of the running, thanks to the extended format of IPL 2022. It is impossible that such a side can be at the losing end all the time. Don’t be too surprised if they nudge the table-toppers, though not necessarily topple them, by the time this year’s edition is over.
Mumbai’s IPL philosophy used to be, ‘whatever they score, we’ll chase it down’. Batting was the weapon, and the entire lot is mostly still there. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard were never going away, while Ishan Kishan was bought back. But not one of them has worked more than in bits and pieces in this edition.
In fact, young Dewald Brevis seems to be the only one having a party. Speaking of ‘young’, we won’t mention CSK. Sure, they have Ruturaj Gaikwad, but he has lost his way with his weathered teammates.
Captain confusion
Chennai’s other issue is, who is the captain? We’ve been told it is Ravindra Jadeja, who was catapulted into the big seat after MS Dhoni played another of his late-show card tricks, announcing his quitting of captaincy two days before the tournament began. Thereafter, almost everyone barring Jadeja has been captaining. Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, even Moeen Ali at times.
“Old is gold” is passe, for CSK at least. They too could go the same way if the current slump continues.
It’s not a pretty picture, but this is the kind of situation that ideally should bring the best out of the best sides. Make no mistake, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are as good as they can get.
Jaideep Ghosh is a senior journalist who has covered sports for over 30 years