When was the last time Mumbai Indians won the first match of an IPL season?
If you ask any Mumbai Indians (MI) players or fans about the number of league matches they need to play to qualify for the IPL playoffs, almost everyone will say 13, unlike other teams' 14 (pun intended totally).
It's because since 2013, the Mumbai Indians have never been able to break their opening game jinx and win their opening IPL encounter.
In IPL 2024 also, after being in total control in the chase against the Gujarat Titans, the Mumbai Indians somehow managed to dig a hole for themselves and let the game slip out of their grasp.
Some bizarre tactical moves saw Tim David come out to face Rashid Khan despite the batter's known struggle against leg spin, with skipper Hardik Pandya coming up for batting too late.
It's a long tournament, and a loss in the first game wouldn't be ringing any alarm bells in the MI camp, but it's been 12 years since the side has won their opening encounter in the IPL.
When was the last time Mumbai Indians won the first match of an IPL season?
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were locking horns in the El Clasico encounter in the IPL 2012 season opener at Chepauk. Fans were expecting a high-voltage contest between these two heavyweight sides.
Let's revisit the IPL season in 2012, when the Mumbai Indians tasted victory in their very first encounter.
#3 CSK batters fell into their own trap
Chennai Super Kings fortress Chepauk was once again in the spotlight for its sluggish and slow nature.
The hosts always enjoyed strangling visiting teams with their spinners at Chepauk.
But this time the move backfired them quite badly as MI bowlers used the cutters and slower ones to astute perfection to skittle out a strong CSK batting unit to only 112 runs.
There was not that much turn for the spinners, but pacers bowling into the pitch and using variations were hard to get away with by the batters. MI used Kieron Pollard and James Franklin overs and reaped the rewards.
Only Suresh Raina (36 runs) and Dwayne Bravo (19 runs) could make their mark, as seven CSK batters failed to cross a double digit score.
#2 Richard Levi played a blinder
On a pitch where everyone struggled big time for timing, Richard Levi played one of the blinders of an inning and almost finished the game inside 7 overs.
Levi took special liking of Ravindra Jadeja and Doug Bollinger and smoked six boundaries and three sixes to complete his half century in just 33 balls.
It was his onslaught that enabled the upcoming batsmen to play low-percentage cricket and take the side home.
#1 Mumbai registered a win in their opening game
When Richard Levi holed out at midwicket in the 8th over, he already had out 60% of the runs, but with the slow pitch, CSK were not completely out of the game.
And when Sachin Tendulkar got retired hurt and Rohit Sharma too failed cheaply, CSK bowlers had their tails up and were looking for further inroads in the game to sneak out any possible chance.
But Ambati Rayudu and James Franklin dropped their guard and played on the merits of the ball without taking any unnecessary risks, adding 45 runs and 50 balls to finish the chase in the 17th over.