IPL 2024: 3 changes Mumbai Indians should make to get back to winning ways

Something special happens in every Indian Premier League (IPL) season, and the fans witnessed yet another jaw-dropping episode of it in the eighth clash of the 2024 edition between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI) clash. The SRH batters took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners to break numerous records in the history of the tournament. The home team were sent to bat first and so much happened over the course of 20 overs.

Both the newly-appointed captains were looking for their maiden win, and it was World Cup winner Pat Cummins who had the last laugh. Travis Head, who was playing his first match of the season, and youngster Abhishek Sharma put on a scintillating batting display from the second over of the innings. The two left-handers were ruthless and helped their side register one of the highest powerplay scores in league history.

Head reached his fifty off 18 balls to record SRH's fastest in IPL history, which was broken by Abhishek a few overs later, reaching the milestone in a mere 16 balls. Former SRH captain Aiden Markram also got in on the fun, and it was the destructive Heinrich Klaasen who made the final burst. His quick-fire 80 off 34 took Hyderabad to the all-time highest team total in IPL history (277/3), a feat held by RCB for more than 11 years. 

None of the MI bowlers were untouched by the onslaught of the SRH batters, and even the mighty Jasprit Bumrah fell prey to Klaasen. The MI batters tried hard to pull off a miraculous victory, but it was far from their reach. Many things did not go as MI intended. The five-time winners have now lost two in a row. However, they are not new to such situations, but this time something must be done before things get out of hand. 

Let's take a look at 3 changes that Mumbai Indians need to make before their next match against RR:

3. Revamp the bowling unit

As discussed in the introduction, the MI bowlers were annihilated by the host batters at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The management needs to reconsider their bowling line-up before the next match to avoid similar situations. Looking at the bowling approach from Mumbai, captain Hardik Pandya opted to open the attack with debutant Kwena Maphaka ahead of himself and premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

The 17-year-old South African was the third-youngest player to make his IPL debut, but it turned out to be a nightmare for him, as he finished with figures of 0-66 in his four overs. Senior pro Bumrah was given just one over across the first 13 overs of the innings. He was held back for the end, but the damage was already done by the top-order batters.

Also Check: IPL 2024 Purple Cap

2. Bring more agility while fielding

It was Travis Head who started the carnage in the second over of the innings, and interestingly, he was dropped on the very first ball of that over. The Aussie gun was batting at just five, but he got a lifeline and made the most of it, scoring 62 off 24 balls. Tim David, who was fielding at mid-off, was the culprit. 

After that, none of the SRH batters gave a chance, and it put MI all under pressure. They considered a total of 19 extras. There were some sloppy fielding efforts, some overthrows, and byes to add to the woes of the five-time champions in a forgettable outing.

Also Check: IPL 2024 Orange Cap

1. Replace Nuwan Thushara with Kwena Maphaka

Kwena Maphaka was South Africa's Under-19 World Cup star. But it seems too early for the MI management to pick him in the XI and give him the role of opening bowler. The young pacer recorded the third-most expensive bowling spell in the league's history. Given his poor start and MI's other fast-bowling options on the bench, they might consider replacing Maphaka in the next match.

Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thushara is one of the best overseas bowling replacements for the Proteas cricketer. Notably, just weeks before the 2024 season, MI's new recruit flaunted his prowess by taking a hat-trick in a T20I match against Bangladesh in Sylhet. Thushara, who is compared to the legendary Lankan Lasith Malinga, was impressive for MI Cape Town in the SA20 2024 as well, which would add more confidence to include the pacer.