“What did we do wrong?”
That’s the title of the opening episode of a documentary on Chennai Super Kings’ triumphant return to the Indian Premier League last year after serving a two-year suspension.
As the yellow army and the blue brigade trained on either side of the Wankhede Stadium here ahead of their Wednesday’s clash, while CSK could well be thinking “we cannot do anything wrong”, the Mumbai Indians camp may well have started mulling over whether “what more can we do wrong?”
The head-to-head record may well be in the home team’s favour but with the manner in which the initial phase of the 12th edition has panned out, it’s the visiting outfit that will enjoy the advantage. CSK has literally carried on from where it left last season. Having registered a hat-trick of wins in its first three games, CSK is the only unbeaten team so far this season.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, is on the verge of living up to its reputation of poor starter. Unlike the 2014 edition when it lost five on a trot at the beginning, Rohit Sharma and Co. have a win in three games. Still, Mumbai Indians is far from having found out its best combination, especially with the ball.
Besides Jasprit Bumrah, no other bowler has been economical and wicket-taking so far. Mitchell McClenaghan, the veteran Kiwi, has featured in all three games but hasn’t been effective along with Lasith Malinga. With Malinga set to fly back home possibly after Wednesday’s clash, Mumbai Indians could well be tempted to give either Alzarri Joseph or Jason Behrendoff a go against CSK.
The Caribbean and the Australian had a long bowl in the nets on Tuesday and will hope that their first Mumbai Indian experience doesn’t turn out to be only on the bench.
While bowling combination will certainly be a cause for concern, Rohit and Quinton de Kock will be keen to convert a quickfire start into a sizeable partnership at the top to set the tone.
CSK, on the other hand, has virtually ticked all the boxes in its first three games. The team will be keen on Ambati Rayudu, having tallied 34 runs in three outings while opening, coming good.
