IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians' win over Kings XI Punjab underlines their clear thinking and clinical gameplan

Mumbai Indians are four-time IPL champions for a variety of reasons. The core personnel in the Mumbai set-up haven’t changed too much in the past few years, they don’t tinker with the playing XI as much as other franchisees, and all their players have become accustomed to executing their task under pressure. Due to all these factors, the team rarely panics and finds a way to prevail during the crunch scenarios. Last night against the Kings XI was a perfect example. Mumbai were 87-3 in the 14th over, all the computer-based algorithms predicted a maximum score of 170. Mumbai bettered that forecast by 21 runs, finishing with 191-4. It was a brutal assault by Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya. But that is their role and has been for the past few seasons. Rarely do the Mumbai think tank send the power finishers up the order. They keep them in their comfort zone and let them execute. It is a lesson for other franchises who constantly like to fiddle based on the match-up and other scenarios. [caption id=“attachment_8872851” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Mumbai Indians paced their innings perfectly and executed their bowling plans to perfection against KXIP. Image courtesy: Pankaj Nangia / Sportzpics for BCCI[/caption] Pollard and Hardik rarely bat before the 14th over because that is not their job. Other batsmen, such as an Ishan Kishan or even a Krunal Pandya, can perform that task because during those middle overs one doesn’t need players to strike in excess of 200 all the time. It is in the death overs where momentum is gained or lost and Mumbai have two of the best exponents in the business. In Abu Dhabi on Thursday, Mumbai’s belligerent pair hammered 62 off the last three overs. While many other teams have one power-hitting all-rounder that bats at 5, 6, or 7, Mumbai have the luxury of having two – Hardik and Pollard. A tweet by data and video analyst Prasanna Agoram echoed the Pollard’s success rate in his dedicated role by stating, “In the last five years in the IPL when pollard walks in to bat before 14 overs averages 36 with a SR of 155 and Mumbai Indians wins 47 percent of their matches.” Pollard finished unbeaten on 47 off 20 balls and Hardik crashed 30 off 11 balls.

Last 5 years in ipl when pollard walks in to bat before 14 overs averages 36 with a SR of 155 and Mumbai Indians wins 47% of their matches.Will he bat before 14 overs today ? #MIvsKXIP

— Prasanna (@prasannalara) October 1, 2020

But it is simply not the role of power-hitters that Mumbai have mastered. Rohit Sharma knows his job is to bat until the 15th over and take minimal risks along the way. Even as the score read 51-2 in the eighth over, Rohit never felt under pressure to hit out and accelerate at that time. He knew his task and he also knew the efficiency of his No 5 and 6. Rohit, Pandya, and Pollard smashed 17 boundaries in the last 36 balls of the Mumbai innings. All of them had accomplished their duty.

2️⃣ matches. 2️⃣ partnerships. Last 5️⃣ overs - 💪🏻💥🔥#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #Dream11IPL #KXIPvMI @KieronPollard55 @ishankishan51 @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/TKx88MyqzK

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 2, 2020

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The bowling department is no different. The addition of Trent Boult and James Pattinson has meant Bumrah can be held back towards the later stages of the innings. It means his assignment is minimised and he can primarily focus on the death bowling. In this tournament, Bumrah is yet to bowl more than one over during the powerplay. At the same time, both Pattinson and Boult can finetune their skills with the new ball. Then there is Krunal Pandya. His responsibility is uncomplicated. Bowl as many dot-balls and limit the damage. Krunal is a street-smart cricketer and thrives on such scenarios as evident last night. After three overs, Kings XI were 33 for no loss, but the situation didn’t faze him. He fired the ball at the base of the stumps or on a good length. KL Rahul and Mayank Aggarwal could only manage four runs from it. Job done and role fulfilled. Four balls later, Bumrah knocked over Aggarwal. Kings XI had lost 22-3 in 21 balls. Perhaps the best summation of Mumbai’s precise gameplay for each individual was the sight of Krunal fist-pumping after finishing his spell with a dot ball to Glenn Maxwell in the 13th over. There were still seven overs left but as far as responsibility went, Krunal has fulfilled it. It is ridiculous to believe each player will succeed at his own task every time. Like all teams, Mumbai will have hiccups along the way, but the way they have mapped out a solution is for all to learn from. Such is the nature of T20 cricket that plans and roles are not going to be executed to 100 percent on each occasion, but Mumbai Indians have ensured they have simplified their approach to gain the maximum efficiency. The coaching staff and the players have been innovative, but at the same time learned to do it in an unsophisticated way. Retaining a core group of players is a benefit, but instead of asking for more output individually, Mumbai have learned to maximise the output as a team. There is a reason why they have been crowned IPL champions on four occasions.