Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Mumbai Indians should stop following their strategy of the left-right batting combination for some time given their recent results in the Indian Premier League.
Rohit Sharma-led MI lost their third game in succession, with a 54-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, and are currently in the seventh spot on the points table.
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Manjrekar feels the poor form of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya has hurt MI and suggested that Kieron Pollard came up the batting order.
“It’s a pretty unique scenario where they’ve got their three main players- Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya and to an extent Krunal Pandya- looking really off-colour. So, they might want to dump the left-hand right-hand combination,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“What happened today is because there was always a left-hander in that middle stage as a part of their left-right combo tactic, allowed Maxwell to bowl four overs. The left-hander was there because there was a leg-spinner operating, waiting to make his life difficult,” he said.
“But Chahal bowled a googly to get Kishan out. So, the leggie has another delivery that will make it tough for the lefty. I would request MI to send batters as per their self-confidence at the moment. No point in sending Krunal, who’s feeling the pressure. Maybe someone like Pollard could come up and MI can abandon the left-right combo at least for a couple of games,” Manjrekar added.
Mumbai Indians will next face Punjab Kings on Tuesday, September 28 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
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