MI vs RR: Hardik Pandya booed, Rohit Sharma doesn’t last long, an Impact sub that bombed and more

‘Raja’ leaves after one ball

‘Mumbai ka Raja’ got a great ovation when he walked in, but that didn’t help him when he received a pearler from Trent Boult first up. Left-arm pace swinging into him has been Rohit’s kryptonite for a long time, and he would have been expecting and preparing himself for one. But it was the away-going delivery that did for the India captain. The Mumbai crowd that had professed its love for the multiple-time IPL-winning captain was stunned. It was the reversal of fortune from the 50-over World Cup semifinal at the same venue when Rohit had taken down Boult in the early exchanges. But that was during the daytime when the sea breeze hardly aids lateral movement. Boult is dynamite in his opening spell and didn’t disappoint again. The narrative coming into the game was the reception new MI skipper Hardik Pandya would get, but the Rajasthan Royals – coming on the back of two successive wins – proved that one couldn’t take eyes off them.

Fastest finger first

It didn’t take long for Mumbai Indians to pull the trigger. Naman Dhir’s dismissal for a first-ball duck in the first over brought in an immediate reaction. For the first time since the Impact Player rule came in place last year, a player was substituted this early into a game. With Trent Boult striking twice in his first over, MI brought in Dewald Brevis to try and shore up their batting lineup.

Alas, they’d be burned really soon. Brevis’ stay in the middle was a brief one as he fell in the third over, once again Boult the man to take the wicket. So MI’s first choice No 3 and an additional batting option contributed a total of 0 runs and lasted two balls. The stuff of nightmares.

Chahal shows off his skills

For a while there, Hardik looked like he was well on his way to playing a definitive redemption innings. After more drama at the toss, and utter chaos wrecked by the left-arm pacers of RR, Hardik was resurrecting MI’s batting effort. Then Yuzvendra Chahal, who had made his IPL debut with Mumbai Indians in 2013 lest we forget, got the current MI captain. It wasn’t exactly a tease, but it had enough loop to make Hardik go for a big shot but also not quite in the hitting zone as it turned and made the batter connect only with the bottom of the bat.

Soon after, Chahal used one of his signature moves of luring a batter away from his hitting zone. For the right-handers he often uses it as a set-up delivery, but for left-handers, it becomes a wicket-taking option with the angle. The reward was another well-set batter’s wicket as Tilak Varma fell. It’s a big week in the world of chess, and Chahal once again offered a reminder of his ability to outthink opponents. He finished with superb figures of 4-0-11-3.

Starting troubles

On paper, RR have one of the most exciting opening partnerships in the IPL. Yashasvi Jaiswal has made heads turn in international cricket in recent times. Jos Buttler is one of the most destructive batters on his day. But, on the field, the opening partnership has provided poor returns so far for RR. In all three of their matches, the first wicket has fallen at best by the end of the second over, meaning Sanju Samson has had to walk in early repeatedly.

In the first match, Buttler fell at the end of the second over against Lucknow. In the second match, Jaiswal was dismissed also in the second over against Delhi. On Monday in Mumbai, Jaiswal was the first to go again, as he was out off the last ball in the first over, caught at cover off Kwena Maphaka, to give the 17-year-old pacer his first IPL wicket.

JosWal, as RR’s social media dubbed this combo, is yet to fire in unison in IPL 2024.

No holding Bumrah back

Hardik received a lot of heat for using Jasprit Bumrah sparingly inside the Powerplay in their first two games. Having just 125 on the board, Mumbai Indians didn’t have the luxury to save their spearhead for later in the innings, for there was to be no ‘later’ in this contest. So, after rookie Kwena Maphaka gave away 10 runs in the first over for Yashasvi’s wicket, Hardik had to go to his bowling superstar, with the Wankhede cheering him on. But such was Mumbai’s plight that they needed a magical Bumrah spell to send any shivers down RR’s spine. Bumrah bowled more than a few pearlers, as he does, but Buttler and Samson survived. Hardik didn’t help matters by dropping Buttler at mid-off (thought a tough chance), prompting another round of booing. Not having a second slip when Samson edged one through the region didn’t help too. The RR skipper was dismissed soon after, but it showed that the Mumbai Indians skipper was a step or two behind the game as well as tactics are concerned. RR gave Bumrah the respect he deserved and had the leeway to play out the biggest threat as there was no scoring-rate pressure in the chase.

Orange Cap for Riyan Parag

“I have simplified everything,” said Riyan Parag as he put on the Orange Cap at the end of RR’s comfortable win. In his own admission, he hasn’t lived up to his potential so far in the IPL. But the Assamese youngster has started this season on fire.

Scoring a second consecutive half-century, Riyan powered RR to a third-straight win of the season. In terms of the situation he has walked into bat so far. Riyan showed restraint at the start once again, playing Jasprit Bumrah out cautiously to ensure MI didn’t get wind in their sails.

Once the finish line started to appear in sight, he set himself free. A six over cover off Gerald Coetzee was a standout shot, and he finished things off with swagger: 6, 6, 4.

“I have had three-four years of not performing at all. You go back to the hotel room and think when you know you can do it and the results are not coming, you go back to the drawing board. I realised I wasn’t practicing at this kind of level so I went and did that,” Riyan said, as he waved to his mother standing somewhere in the vicinity. Things are coming up for the 22-year-old.