Delhi Capitals break their jinx against Mumbai Indians

Last year Delhi Capitals lost to Mumbai Indians in the finals of IPL 2020. That was not the only time that they lost to Mumbai Indians in 2020. Mumbai Indians has been a nemesis for Delhi Capitals right through the 2020 edition. Both the group matches were won by Mumbai Indians and when both the teams met each other in Chennai I was excited to see if Delhi Capitals could break the jinx.

This was Delhi’s first match in Chennai so how they adapt to the new conditions was something that I was looking forward to. Delhi Capitals on paper has the best team in the tournament but a couple of places in the lineup was still up for grabs. How they plug those gaps would ensure their progress in the long run. 

Mumbai Indians though winning the last two matches have a problem in plenty when it comes to their batsmen’s form. The matches they won were both due to their superb middle and death overs bowling. They have struggled to cross 150 runs and that has been a major cause for concern. Mumbai Indians generally start slow in IPL but this year though they have not played to the potential but have still been able to win 2 of the first three matches.

It was expected to be a close encounter because on paper both Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians looked balanced and both were coming into the match after winning their previous matches respectively.

Let’s look at the hits and misses from yesterday’s match at Chepauk, Chennai.

The Hits:

1. The pitch in Chennai has been slow and low throughout the tournament and hence it was not a surprise to see that Delhi Capitals brought in Amit Mishra into their playing XI. Ravichandran Ashwin their main spinner though bowling well has not been in wicket-taking form. Amit Mishra is an old warhorse of IPL cricket having taken more than 160 wickets including 3 hattricks. He is a very underrated bowler but he generally ends up taking wickets. Yesterday as it turned out Amit Mishra was an inspiring change because his old guile was back and he picked up 4 wickets to break the back of Mumbai Indians’ batting. Picking up Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in one over, turned the game in Delhi’s favour from where they never looked back.
2. When I saw Marcus Stoinis opening the bowling for Delhi Capitals, I was a bit surprised because he has not been in good form this season. But the move turned out to be a masterstroke because he picked up the wicket of Quinton De Kock in the very first over. The form of Stoinis is very important for Delhi Capitals because he is their star all-rounder and he made a big difference to their campaign last year. 
3. Lalit Yadav looks to be a pretty smart cricketer and a handy one too. He bowls off-spin and is a decent batsman too. Yesterday he bowled his full quota of 4 overs and returned figures of 1/17. He got a promotion in the batting order too and remained not out till the end to see Delhi Capitals through in the chase. He will get more opportunities this season and it will be exciting to see how he develops from here. In Ricky Ponting, he has a great coach and I hope he uses the most of it.
4. Jayant Yadav replaced Adam Milne yesterday and the change was mainly due to the prevailing pitch conditions in Chennai. He made use of the golden opportunity though it didn’t lead to Mumbai’s victory. He performed well with both bat and ball and I hope he gets a longer run this season. Jayant Yadav has a test century under his name and he is a good all-round cricketer. Will he be able to put up a consistent show for Mumbai Indians this season would be an interesting watch going forward. 

The Misses

1. Bumrah had a habit of bowling no-balls when he first burst into the scene. Most importantly these no-balls used to come at very important junctures in a match. I remember his no-ball in the champions trophy final which gave life to Fakar Zaman which eventually led to him batting India out of the match. That match turned out to be the inflection point for Bumrah because he worked on this loophole and thereafter I have hardly seen him bowling no-balls. This season Bumrah has been in good form and batsmen have not been able to take him for runs but wickets have been alluding him. Don’t know if that’s the reason but he ended up bowling 2 no-balls yesterday under pressure. I hope it’s a one-off thing which would be a thing of the past when he takes the field next time around.
2. Hardik Pandya is playing purely as a batsman these days due to his back troubles and I hope he is not putting himself under pressure by thinking too much about it. He is a terrific finisher but Mumbai seems to be using him at number 5 to allow him to build a big innings. He has not been up to the mark thus far, getting out while going for the big hits. Yesterday also he missed the flight of Amit Mishra’s ball and was out for a duck. His form is critical to Mumbai’s success and I hope he will be back to his old self soon.
3. Quinton De Kock has failed to deceive in the three matches he has played in IPL 2021. I was not very happy when Mumbai Indians included him in the playing XI in place of Chris Lynn because I thought it was unfair. Lynn had scored 49 runs in the first match and to replace him was not the smartest decision. As it has turned out now, Quinton is struggling and it will be interesting to see if they go back to Lynn in the next match.

What to look forward to?

For Delhi Capitals, I don’t think playing Smith and Hetmeyer is a very smart move. I think Woakes should play because he is a genuine wicket-taker for them and has been in good form. They have too many good players sitting on the bench so it’s a good problem to have for Ponting and Pant. To think that Axar is still not available and Shreyas Iyer not playing this IPL – just shows how good a team Delhi Capitals is. There is no reason why they can’t win the IPL this season. I am backing them to reach the finals once again.

For Mumbai Indians, too many of their top-order batsmen are struggling and they are not easily replaceable too. Their bowling is still their strength and though they lost very tamely yesterday, I think it’s an aberration which they will surely correct in the upcoming matches. I do not foresee any changes but with Hardik firing Mumbai could be in trouble going forward.

What do you think? Would you suggest any batting order changes for Mumbai Indians? Or am I being too pessimistic?

Do write in with your views as we get into a doubleheader Wednesday which would see Punjab Kings taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad and later in the evening it’s KKR vs CSK. 

PS. Opportunities are rarely offered! They are seized!

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