Lucknow Super Giants trumped Mumbai Indians for the second time in the season with skipper KL Rahul making another ton, his second against Mumbai this year. The eighth successive loss of the season sees Mumbai all but out of contention for a place in the playoffs this year.
Here we raise a few burning questions to dissect the match and the tactics used by the teams.
Why are Lucknow persisting with Manish Pandey in the XI?
Manish Pandey has totalled 88 runs in six innings this IPL while striking at a rate of 110. Batting at No 3, Manish comes in behind KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock and often has a set platform for him to build upon, something he has failed to do time and again. He has struggled against spinners and his dot ball percentage since 2020 is 37% overall. Given that Rahul is also an anchor in the top three, Manish is surplus to Lucknow’s requirements, especially as they have Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni capable of filling up that slot.
Manish was dismissed by Kieron Pollard off a short ball last night after he struggled his way to 22 off 22 balls. Manish’s stint delayed Marcus Stoinis’s entry, who had a good chance of doing better against a pace-heavy bowling line-up. With Lucknow preferring to bat deep, they can replace Manish with Krishnappa Gowtham and aim to bring in Badoni, Stoinis or Hooda at No 3 based on game situations.
Have Mumbai Indians under-bowled Kieron Pollard?
Kieron Pollard’s batting form has been questionable, but the West Indian all-rounder managed to take two wickets last night with some clever bowling in the middle overs. A tricky medium pacer on slow wickets, Mumbai haven’t quite used Pollard enough in the last couple of seasons despite him doing reasonably well. In 2021, across 13 overs with the ball, Pollard took five wickets at an economy rate of 7.22. This year he has bowled nine overs at an economy rate of 8.6, a touch high, but still better than that of Basil Thampi, Tymal Mills, Daniel Sams and Jaydev Unadkat.
Pollard bowled 21 overs in 2020, going at over nine runs per over as Mumbai Indians won the title, but his bowling wasn’t quite needed then. This season, especially with MI failing to identify their best spin bowler for the middle overs, it’s useful to have Pollard chip in with his cutters every game.
Where can KL Rahul improve as a batter in T20s?
KL Rahul’s batting template is pretty evident. He likes to settle down at the crease before going big and it’s something that has worked out well for him in the past. In this game, he was on 29 off 30 balls and in his next 32 balls, Rahul went on to smash 74 unbeaten runs. Combining his two knocks against Mumbai Indians this year (103* and 103*), and splitting Rahul’s returns across phases, we see his powerplay strike rate rests at 117.9. In the middle overs, he has been dominating, striking at a rate of 191 in these two matches. In the death, though, even with his range, Rahul sort of slows down a touch compared to some of the elite top-order batters who bat deep into the innings.
The strike rate is at 196 in these two matches, which is good, but it is still short of being elite. A top finisher or the likes of Jos Buttler or Faf du Plessis go at a rate well over 200 in the death if they are batting through. Given the time he takes to settle in at the start of the innings, Rahul should be aiming to finish stronger, something he’s truly capable of. Him batting deeper into the innings would only be more valuable than a finisher walking in and teeing off if he can take that strike rate up even further.
Why Tim David needs to play for Mumbai Indians regularly?
For years, Mumbai Indians were banking on the finishing prowess of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya with the likes of Krunal Pandya or Nathan Coulter-Nile chipping in with the odd cameo from down the order. Pollard’s returns have gone down in the last couple of seasons with bowling teams targetting him with googlies from leggies or wide lines from the quicks. Pollard has struggled to consistently hit his way out of those and as a result, his overall strike rate has taken a toll.
Multiple times in the last couple of seasons, Pollard has ambled along to slow starts only to either be dismissed or not go full throttle from there. This brings back the question as to why Tim David isn’t playing for Mumbai Indians. Rohit Sharma stated in the post-match interview that Mumbai wanted to ensure the players in the team got a fair run first, but David was a part of Mumbai’s playing XI at the start of the season before being benched after two matches despite him showcasing his efficiency as a finisher across other major franchise leagues.
David has a strike rate of 158 in the powerplay, 142 in the middle overs and 195 in the death overs in his short T20 career so far. With Pollard on the wane, Mumbai should be utilising David this season, but it seems they gave up long back on grooming David for Pollard’s role. Ideally, this would happen only if he gets an extended run as Rohit himself suggested.
Should Ishan Kishan sit out for Mumbai Indians?
Ishan Kishan has had a dreadful season so far, totalling 199 runs in eight matches at an average of 28.42. Take out the first two matches and it’s 64 runs in six matches at an average of just over 10. What’s horrible is that Kishan’s strike rate, which is meant to be his forte, is at a lowly 108.15 this year. Kishan appears to be clearly lacking in confidence in his power game and the returns have been appalling.
Before this season, as an opener in the IPL, Kishan averaged 48.1, scoring runs at a strike rate of 151.6. For India, in the three matches, he has opened in T20Is, Kishan’s strike rate is greater than 140. This year it’s been a struggle for the youngster after Mumbai bought him back for a record fee. Should Mumbai Indians push him down to the middle order and give Dewald Brevis a free license at the top? They could also promote Daniel Sams up the order to partner Rohit with Kishan sitting out for a few games to get his mindset right.
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