"The bowling is extremely weak and it is not going to change" - Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians' loss to the Rajasthan Royals
Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Mumbai Indians (MI) have an extremely weak bowling lineup in IPL 2022. He is also not optimistic about any improvements in that department as the tournament progresses.
The MI bowlers allowed the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to post a massive score of 193/8 in yesterday's IPL 2022 encounter. The five-time champions were then restricted to a score of 170/8, thereby losing the match by 23 runs.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Jasprit Bumrah was the only potent threat in the Mumbai Indians' bowling. He said:
"When they (MI) play you realize that the team is weak. The bowling is extremely weak and it is not going to change because this is the best that they have. Jasprit Bumrah on one side and the rest of the bowling on the other side. Jasprit Bumrah was economical, three wickets as well."
While observing that Tymal Mills did a decent job, the cricketer-turned-commentator said the other Mumbai Indians' bowlers were found wanting. He explained:
"Tymal Mills also picked up three wickets. He was slightly expensive but still okay. It seems Daniel Sams is scoring a half-century in every match. Murugan Ashwin was good in the last match, was alright in this match. The might is not being seen at all in the bowling. You don't get Basil Thampi to bowl his full quota of overs. Kieron Pollard picks up a wicket but also concedes 25 runs in an over."
Basil Thampi conceded 26 runs in the only over he bowled. Murugan Ashwin and Kieron Pollard were also taken to the cleaners by Jos Buttler and the other Rajasthan Royals batters.
"That's a very, very disappointing fact" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's early dismissal during the Mumbai Indians run chase
Reflecting on the Mumbai Indians' run chase, Aakash Chopra highlighted that Rohit Sharma's early dismissal put them behind the eight ball. He elaborated:
"Overall, it was quite a lot of runs but it could have been chased because Rohit Sharma-Ishan Kishan but Rohit Sharma gets out once again and that's a very, very disappointing fact that he is getting out early."
While lauding Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma's efforts with the bat, the 44-year-old pointed out that the rest of the Mumbai Indians' betters left a lot to be desired. He stated:
"Ishan Kishan batted well. Anmolpreet - once SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) comes, he will go out. Tilak Varma kept them in the game. In fact, when Tilak Varma and Ishan were batting together, Tilak Varma was much better. Pollard tried but Tim David, Daniel Sams - over, Yuzi Chahal comes and two wickets in two balls. It would have been a hat-trick if Karun Nair had held the catch."
The Mumbai Indians seemed to be comfortably placed at a score of 121/2 in the 13th over. However, they lost a flurry of wickets, including the well-set Kishan and Varma, and eventually fell short of the target.