Mumbai Indians have won just one of their first four matches in the ongoing IPL 2026. Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, they were a fearless unit, having won the title on five occasions, but in recent times, the team has struggled to live up to the expectations. Mumbai have not won the title since 2020 and this year too, their performance has been highly disappointing, with them being ninth on the points table.
This has been MI’s trend for quite some time now. In the 2024 season, they finished at the bottom of the table and since then, the team management has gone on to add the likes of Trent Boult, Quinton de Kock, Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton, among others. Now, Jacks and Rickelton have given them an instant return, but signing de Kock and Boult made little sense.
Boult has retired from international cricket and is clearly rusty, which is the reason the former New Zealand pacer is yet to pick up a wicket this season. Quinton, on the other hand, is serving as a backup opener to Rickelton, which too makes little sense, as the franchise could have brought in a young player and groomed him for the future.
They clearly need an overhaul at the moment, but it’s difficult to drop or bench anyone, given the fact that they have some superstar Indian cricketers. Now, them not being in form has only added to the misery. Should it force the MI think tank to call for multiple changes next year? Especially when many of their players are not able to adapt to the modern-day T20 requirements? Former cricketer Aaron Finch is open to the idea but also reminded that experienced sides have delivered success in the past.
“When you look at the history of the IPL, teams have gone with the same philosophies and had success. KKR, for a while, had the same big chunk of cricketers, the real heartbeat of the team. CSK, they were the ‘dad’s army’, won the tournament. They were an older side that won the tournament on the back of a lot of experience. So, you would be really hard pressed as a coaching on the management side that has been reasonably successful and decide to break that up,” ESPNcricinfo Expert Finch answered India TV’s query while speaking to the media.
In terms of wholesome changes, that’s unnecessary: Finch
Finch, however, believes that a couple of strategic changes could be made if Mumbai fail to improve. He believes that wholesome changes are not required at the moment and they still are a very dangerous side on paper.
“Maybe, after this year, if it continues to go in the direction that it has been, where they have been a little bit inconsistent and the game is probably trending in a different way, to what a couple of players are used to playing, then they have to make some strategic changes. Whether that’s one or two players in or out. In terms of wholesale changes, that’s unnecessary. They are still quality players. Sometimes it can be one shot, one over that a bowler bowls and it starts to tick for them again. They are still a quality side that shouldn’t be taken lightly anyway,” he added.
Meanwhile, fans can catch the IPL rivalry week on the Star Sports network and JioHotstar.
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