IPL 10, Match 38, MI vs. RCB – Mumbai Indians Player Ratings

Royal Challengers Bangalore are official out of the Indian Premier League after their horrendous defeats at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rising Pune Supergiant. The ever-so aggressive RCB side has failed to get a decent total on board for the third game in a row after the match against Sunrisers was washed out.

On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians were coming off from an absolute gaffe of a match against the Gujarat Lions. It is always an easy task for any team to face the depleted RCB side at the moment and with this win, the home side would almost but guarantee their place in the playoffs. The match, however, did not go according to Mumbai’s plan as they struggled to go past the total set by the Challengers, getting there only on the final ball of the innings.

RCB, batting first set a target of 163 for the Mumbai Indians to chase at the Wankhede stadium, thanks to the cameos from Pawan Negi and Kedhar Jadhav. If it were not for them, the total would have been somewhere close to 130’s. The chase was a bit slower than the Mumbai Indians would have expected.

Here are the Mumbai Indians Player Ratings for the MI vs. RCB encounter:

Parthiv Patel- 4/10

The former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman struggled with the bat, getting out in the very first over off the bowling of Aniket Choudary. It was not a performance that the opener would have hoped for against the rather unarmed RCB bowling.

However, it was just an off day for the wicketkeeper, and he is likely to come back into the groove before the next game. Overall with the gloves too, Parthiv had an average game on the field and would be hopeful for a decent outing next time around.

Jos Buttler- 7/10

Englishman Jos Buttler gave the start that the Mumbai Indians would have hoped for when they came out to chase the total. The right-hander knocked the ball to all parts of the park and looked like a real threat to the Challengers. His knock was instrumental in setting up a decent start for the Indians.

Although the Englishman could not stay longer at the crease, thanks to the brilliant catch by Australian Travis Head.

Nitish Rana- 6/10

Delhi-lad Nitish Rana provided the solidarity at the middle of the park, at the time when his partner Jos Buttler was smacking the ball to all parts. The knock gave the Mumbai Indians a problem or two during the death overs of the match as the required rate increased from 7’s to 10’s.

It was an off day for the left-hander batsman as he could only muster a 28-ball 27 runs knock, which was slow on the deck while chasing.

Rohit Sharma- 8/10

Arguably one of Mumbai Indian’s best batsman Rohit Sharma had another good day on the field. The right-hander, who recently turned 30 proved his worth to the side with an incredible, yet calm and composed knock against the Challengers.

A match winning knock under this condition would have been something that the captain would be proud of. Rohit has definitely picked up his pace in the last few games for the Mumbai Indians. It is a great sign for the team heading towards the playoffs.

Kieron Pollard- 5/10

West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard had a better day on the field during the first innings of the match and not the second. The tall and lanky West Indian picked up two catches in the last over of the first innings in the match.

With the bat, however, the West Indian was far from threatening as he holed out to the fielder in the deep off the bowling of Pawan Negi.

Krunal Pandya- 7/10

The Baroda all-rounder was arguably the best bowler for the Mumbai Indians on the night picking up the wickets of both the foreign batsmen- Travis Head and AB de Villiers. These wickets turned out to be game-changing in the match, with AB de Villiers looking in good form in his short stay at the crease.

Krunal Pandya suffered a minor injury while chasing and had to spend his time off the field due to the injury. It seemed like the all-rounder was padded up to return to the field but the team didn’t require his services.

Karn Sharma – 6/10

Karn Sharma had a good game with the ball. With the ball, it was his spell which slowed down the run-rate of the Challengers. Additionally, the leggie picked up the wicket of the opening batsman Mandeep Singh to put the brakes on the scoring rate.

He gave away 23 runs in his three overs picking up a wicket in the process. It was a good night for the leggie, who sneaked in the place of the off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Hardik Pandya- 6/10

It was a very quiet game for the other Pandya, as he was utilised to bowl a single over in the game. Rohit Sharma only gave the ball to the right-arm quick for a single over, which went for a meagre five runs.

With the bat, however, Hardik scored 14 runs which included a massive six to lead the Mumbai Indians to the victory.

Mitchell McClenaghan- 8/10

It was another incredible night for the left-arm quick from New Zealand Mitchell McClenaghan. He picked up three crucial wickets for the Mumbai Indians. It was a ploy set up for the Indian captain Virat Kohli, which made him drive a shot straight into the hands of Rohit Sharma.

McClenaghan returned to bowl the last over of the innings where he picked up wickets of the successive deliveries. It was another impressive display in the IPL for the Kiwi.

Lasith Malinga- 4/10

While the opening bowler McClenaghan was making merry with the ball in his hand, his bowling partner Lasith Malinga found it tough to bowl on the same wicket. The Sri Lankan sling bowler went wicketless as his struggle in the tournament continued.

He went for 33 runs in his four overs, picking up no wickets, a rare occasion for the bowling genius.

Jasprit Bumrah- 7/10

Jasprit Bumrah too ended up with expensive figures on the night with figures of 1/33 in his four overs. It was a stark contrast of the bowler we saw the other night in the super over.

His performance on the other night overshadowed his display on the evening with only the wicket of Shane Watson. However, the bowler remains the key for the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians side.