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'Kieron Pollard's bat is not striking at all. It seems Jaydev Unadkat is hitting more than him': Ex-KKR opener
IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians are winless from their first eight games, the longest losing streak to start an IPL edition.
With eight straight defeats, Mumbai Indians face an uphill task to get their first two points of the ongoing IPL edition. The five-time champions have had a torrid journey so far in the 10-team competition. They endured their worst run in IPL history having lost their first eight games including the one against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
Their bowling has looked ordinary with pacer Jasprit Bumrah being the lone enforcer. But an inconsistent batting display remains a bigger concern for the Rohit Sharma-led unit. Chasing 169 for the win against Lucknow, Mumbai batters faltered yet again while playing in front of the electric Wankhede crowd.
The team lost Ishan Kishan and Dewald Brevis early, and skipper Rohit Sharma also perished on 39 after getting off to a decent start. Youngster Tilak Varma scored 38 from 27 balls but Kieron Pollard looked far from his destructive self, managing to score just 19 off 20 deliveries.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra was also critical of Mumbai's batting, Pollard in particular, which handed them a dubious record of eight consecutive defeats. The cricketer-turned-commentator also pointed out flaws in Mumbai's opening pair.
"Kieron Pollard's bat is not striking the ball at all. Whatever he does, he is going at run-a-ball only. Quite a few times, it seems Jaydev Unadkat is hitting more than him. This is the reality where this team is standing," he said on his YouTube channel.
"Ishan Kishan's bat is not at all hitting the ball. It is worth seeing that a player's confidence can go so low. You are getting tears in your eyes when you see the guy is not able to bat. He was trying and the way he got out, it cannot get worse than that. What was that? Rohit Sharma was playing well, he played a bad shot to get out.
"Mumbai were handed their eighth defeat. They are not taking the name of winning, they win the toss as well but still lose the match. What a leveller this game is. You are five-time champions, however bad you play, however was the auction, whatever you do, it does not happen that you lose all eight matches," he further added.
Mumbai are winless from their first eight games, the longest losing streak to start an IPL edition, and the season looks all but over for Rohit's men. Chopra, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in his IPL career, also underlined the support that the Mumbai outfit got from the crowd at Wankhede.
"You were back at your home ground. You had the support of the crowd but still, a win was far from you. This is incredible what is happening because they are a better team than this. Agree the team is not as good as it used to be in the last few years but luck is also not on their side. I don't know what's happening."
