Mumbai Indians' bowling very poor, must score 20 runs extra to win: Wasim Jaffer

The Mumbai Indians (MI) have produced dismal performances in IPL 2022, and have no victories in the tournament so far. They are currently featuring in their fifth match of the season, against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer discussed the weak links of MI and gave a few suggestions in order to improve their performances.

On being asked about Rohit Sharma‘s form, Jaffer said the MI captain has not really performed well in the last few editions. He should look to emulate openers Kane Williamson and Shubman Gill in the upcoming matches. Jaffer said that apart from Rohit, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav need to be consistent as well to bring back the momentum towards Mumbai Indians before it is too late.

“For the last four to five years, Rohit has not scored 500-600 runs, being a premier batsman of the team. In this season, I feel MI need Rohit to play an important role like Kane Williamson and Shubman Gill. If he manages to bat until the 17th-18th over, the team has a very good chance of securing a victory. Along with him, Kishan needs to click and the team has to bring their A-game, otherwise, it will be tough. Surya has been terrific, and his form will be quite important for MI,” said Jaffer on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket Show’ on CricTracker.

The former cricketer reckoned that MI’s bowling is very poor, adding that the team needs to play Tymal Mills every game if he is fit. He also said that spinner Mayank Markande can be given an opportunity as he has done well for the franchise in the past.

“MI’s bowling is very poor. Tymal Mills has to come back and they have got to make their selection right. They need to play a brand of cricket like they are known for. Mumbai has to turn up like the CSK team. Without any overseas fast bowler, just Bumrah being a premier bowler is not helping them. Maybe Mayank Markande should be brought into the team as he can give new ideas and has played in the IPL.”

MI has to score 20 runs extra in every match: Wasim Jaffer

Jaffer compared the bowlers of MI in this season to the ones in the previous edition. He mentioned that Trent Boult was a big help in picking key wickets, and he used to give strong support to Bumrah. He also reckoned that MI need to score 20 runs extra to win due to their weak bowling attack, as they have the worst economy rate of 14.6 in the death overs this season.

“They had Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter Nile last year, and in this season they are too dependent on Bumrah. In the previous year, they had Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya who were successful, but in this season they have Murugan Ashwin, who has not completed his full quota of overs in the last few matches. I think they have to score that 20 runs extra and hope their bowling clicks to win the match,” Jaffer concluded.