MI wants to win first; concentrate on Suryakumar’s comeback and Kishan’s poor play.

The Mumbai Indians are in lacking need of a win after dropping their last three games. But, history demonstrates that they have won titles despite having weaker season openings. For example, in the 2015 edition, they lost five of the first six games. They suffered defeats in their first four games but they ultimately lifted the trophy.

However, it is unlikely to be the case for Mumbai Indians batting stalwart Ishan Kishan (4, 34, 16). Given that Kishan’s apparent rivals, Rishabh Pant (18, 28, 51, and 55) and Sanju Samson (82 not out, 15 and 12), have both put up impressive seasons, the MI stumper may be facing pressure to make the team for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Prior to selecting the team for the ICC tournament, it anticipated the national selectors to watch the first half of the league.

A few months prior, Kishan had sparked controversy when he cut himself off from the cricket community and declined to play domestic cricket, even after receiving clear orders from the BCCI and selectors. But, it appeared from the live footage of him speaking amicably with BCCI secretary Jay Shah during a recent IPL match that all is OK between him and the BCCI.

But Kishan may be up against a deadline if he doesn’t have any impressive statistics to support his claims. He is one of the nation’s most important wicketkeeper-batters. The team included him in the World Cup team the previous year. Kishan tried to clear the fence at the team nets at the Wankhede for a considerable amount of time on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday afternoon, it will be a match inside a match between Pant’s squad and the other team.

Kishan and Pant will be the main players in the duel, along with Suryakumar Yadav. The last time we saw the prolific batter in action was in December. He was the captain of India not too long ago in South Africa. The Mumbai Indians, who are currently winless, would be thrilled to have him back in the lineup. Naman Dhir, who has impressed with his stroke-making, might enter as an Impact Player as a result of his comeback.

In the meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly supported MI captain Hardik Pandya. He has come under fire from fans since taking over for Rohit Sharma as captain. “I disagree that the crowd should jeer Pandya. That’s not accurate. The franchisee named him the captain. Rohit Sharma is obviously of a different class. That being said, everyone finds it easy to accept that Pandaya has been named captain. I believe that we all have to comprehend,” Ganguly remarked.