Revisiting Mumbai Indians' last 5 season-opening defeats
The Mumbai Indians, owned by the Reliance Industries, is the most successful team in the Indian Premier League, winning 3 out of the 10 seasons of the popular league. Rohit Sharma has led MI to all three of their title wins and is the most successful captain in the history of IPL.
The team won its maiden IPL title in 2013 after defeating the Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the finals and has gone on to win two more titles after that.
MI has been a horrible starter and has lost its previous five opening games. The last time MI won its opening game was way back in 2012. The team has failed to repeat its winning performance in subsequent season openers. Though it has somehow managed to peak at the right time and has looked comfortable in the latter half of the tournament.
In a new season and at the dawn of a new decade of IPL, MI will look to start winning early and breathe easy as far as a place in the play-offs is concerned.
Here is a look at the last 5 MI defeats in its season openers.
#5 RCB vs MI (Match No. 2 - April 4, 2013)
The series of defeats started in 2013, where the Mumbai Indians lost its first match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a last over thriller. After RCB scored a challenging 156, thanks to Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 92 and Virat’s supporting knock, the Mumbai Indians needed 10 runs to win off the last over.
Vinay Kumar had been given the responsibility to bowl the final over and Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu were out in the middle for the Mumbai Indians. Kumar dismissed both of them in consecutive deliveries while conceding only a bye.
With 8 required off final 2 deliveries and the giant Kieron Pollard on strike, it was still anybody’s game. Vinay Kumar, however, brought all his experience into play and conceded just 5 of the last two balls to clinch the match by a narrow margin of 2 runs.