There is something special in every Indian Premier League (IPL) season and fans saw another recent example of this in the eighth match of the 2024 edition between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI). In this match, Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to bowl first. Batting first, SRH scored 277 runs at the loss of 3 wickets in 20 overs, which is the highest total in IPL history.
In reply, Mumbai Indians also scored 246 runs at the loss of five wickets but in the end MI had to face defeat by 31 runs. This is MI’s second consecutive defeat this season and due to this, questions are being raised on the captaincy of MI captain Hardik Pandya and some strange decisions taken by him.
But now there is only one question in everyone’s mind, what will Mumbai have to do to get back on the winning track. Let’s take a look at the 3 changes that Mumbai Indians need to make ahead of their next match against RR.
Mumbai Indians will have to make these three changes before the match against RR
3) The bowling unit will have to be given a facelift.
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The host batsmen scored a lot of runs against the MI bowlers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. To avoid a similar situation, the management will have to reconsider its bowling line-up before the next match. In the match against Hyderabad, Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya opened the bowling with Kwena Mafaka before himself and leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. This decision proved to be completely wrong.
The 17-year-old South African player was the third youngest player to debut in the IPL, but the match was no less than a nightmare for him as he gave away 66 runs in his four overs. Whereas senior bowler Bumrah got a chance to bowl only one over in the first 13 overs of the innings.
2) MI players will have to be more agile while fielding
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Actually, SRH batsman Travis Head started wreaking havoc on MI bowlers in the second over of the innings, but the interesting thing is that he got life on the very first ball of that over. At that time Head was batting on just five runs, but he got a lease of life and he took full advantage of it and scored 62 runs in 24 balls. Tim David, who was fielding at mid-off, dropped this catch.
After that, none of the SRH batsmen gave a chance and this put pressure on the MI bowlers. In this match, MI bowlers gave a total of 19 extra runs and this proves that MI bowlers were under a lot of pressure while bowling.
1) Nuwan Thushara will have to be given a chance in place of Kwena Maphaka.
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Kwena Mfaka was the star of South Africa’s Under-19 World Cup. But MI management made haste by including him in the playing XI. The young fast bowler bowled the third most expensive bowling spell in the history of the league. Considering his poor start and MI’s other fast bowling options on the bench, they may look to replace Mafaka with another bowler in the next match.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Thushara is one of the best overseas bowling replacements for the Proteas cricketer. Let us tell you that, a few weeks before the 2024 season, MI’s new player demonstrated his skills by taking a hat-trick in the T20I match against Bangladesh in Sylhet. Thushara, who has been compared to Lankan great Lasith Malinga, also bowled well for MI Cape Town in the SA20 2024.