Mumbai Indians: A Story of Hope and Despair

Mumbai Indians lost horribly by 10 wickets against the Deccan Chargers yesterday. Gilchrist struck a mammoth 9 sixes for the Chargers scoring the fastest hundred of the tournament in 42 balls to blow the Indians away. This makes Mumbai Indians the only team to have lost all their 4 encounters in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Being a true blue Mumbaikar, I support Mumbai Indians whole heartedly although my loyalties are wearing thin after the successive losses and the Harbhajan controversy which is the saddest thing to happen in Indian sports. On the other hand the team doesn’t seem to be gelling together and there seems to be a complete lack of strategy and decision making. The openers Ronchi (pronounced ‘Ronki’) and Jayasuriya are waltzing to different tunes. Ronchi in particular got out to a wide R P Singh delivery yesterday trying to hit it over the slips. As for Jayasuriya, in the 90s he along with Romesh Kaluwitharana were the dashing Sri Lankan opening pair who instilled fear in the opposition with their explosive batting style in the first 15 overs. The match was normally won during that period as well. At present he seems to lack a good batting partner at the other end and looks over burdened by the huge responsibility and expectations of scoring big runs. Everyone is aware that if he gets going with Sachin, there will be enough runs on the board to demoralize any opposition of the day. I believe Sachin’s recovery would coincide with that of the team’s as well and that’s the best that I can hope for.

Other than Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock and Dwayne Bravo are the two well-known match winners in the side who have failed to keep up with their reputation. We also have Dilhara Fernando who surprisingly has not been included in the playing XI uptil now — we have been relying more on the unimpressive Ashish Nehra. Including Dilhara would mean leaving a batsman out of the side since one can only play 4 foreigners in the final XI and Shaun Pollock has the ability to turn matches as a handy all-rounder and cannot be ignored. The promising young lads making their T20 debut like Saurabh Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane will likely need time to accustom with the international standards of this faster version of the game. The question that begs an answer is whether Mumbai Indians which was bought for a huge sum (by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries Limited) lagged behind in bidding for the right mix of professional players who could perform and inspire others to take up the mantle of winning. Whether we lack the right combination of talent or an inspiring leadership role model — only time can put all these questions aside and rest all the doubts forever.

We play the Kolkata Knight Riders next who went down to the Chennai Super Kings in their first loss of the season. They will be looking to hit back confidently against a depleted Mumbai Indians. At present, we seem to be lacking the grit and the initiative to push for a result in our favor. However, it’s imperative that we start winning now – 8 out of our remaining 10 matches to be precise to make ourselves worthy of qualifying for the semis and start worrying about the net run rate in case we are tied in the standings list. Time is running out for the Mumbai Indians. The road ahead seems to be tough and strewn with impossibilities.

Mumbai Indians – What’s in a name.
The name “Mumbai Indians” is devoid of any creativity, is dull and very uninspiring. It seems like a last ditch choice after an unsuccessful brainstorming session. If you note, every team in the IPL has chosen to highlight their regional or cultural taste (Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals) or let their name depict the underlaying character of their team or company (Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers). On the contrary the title ‘Mumbai Indians’ interprets to be representative of a national side when in reality it is not “national”. The team has a good combination of both International and Indian players. It sounds odd then to have foreigners playing under the title of ‘Indians’ for Mumbai and therefore difficult to comprehend the rationale behind the name.

The title should have exemplified the dreams of the million strong citizens whose city is a participant in this regional league. The name could have been adjectives that highlight the diverse regional culture and ethnicity — the two strong points of this city. Mumbai is also a contrasting city which is modern, cosmopolitan, trendy, world class, et al apart from being traditional. A neutral name could have played a big role in charging up the morale of a team comprising mixed cultures and languages and boosted the excitement of the fans as well. Talking of which, in a tournament that involves rival metro cities from across India — Bangalore, Jaipur, Delhi, Chennai, etc., any fan supporting the Mumbai IPL team would consider himself to be a proud Mumbaikar first. We surely deserved a better designation along with a win.