Why Mumbai is finding it difficult to hold on to the top spot in this IPL

By: Saurabh Somani

Following up a masterpiece with a worthy sequel is more difficult than making the original. Francis Ford Coppola might be the only one to have ever done so convincingly with the Corleone family saga. Exaggeration aside, Rohit Sharma is finding out that holding on to the top spot is more difficult than ascending to it. It’s the peak against the sustained high. Peaks are breathtaking when scaled, butsustained excellence— that’s a different kettle of fish.

It’s what separates the greats from the very good. The current squad has the quality to get out of their rut and players with the nous to hold on to winning momentum when they find it. But it’s regaining the footing that is proving to be difficult. Mumbai’s nightmarish start has had contributing factors that could have been avoided. In 2013, they completed the IPL-Champions League double. One auction later, Mumbai are looking directionless. With every loss, the challenge—especially mentally—will be more difficult.

Part of Mumbai’s poor show could be put down to the strategies adopted in the lead-up to the season. To start with, they made a couple of strange decisions before entering the auctions in their choice of retained players. That Rohit would stay on was a no-brainer, and Mumbai would have been naturally keen to keep Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard in the fold.

However, the decision to go with Ambati Rayudu players retained raised eyebrows. There’s no doubting their value in a T20 side, but given that they had Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell and Dwayne Smith to choose from, were those the wisest choices? Mumbai then used their Right to Match card on Pragyan Ojha, again a very good bowler, but as has been shown in the IPL, it’s a rare bowler who can influence the course of a match the way a batsman can.

Malinga and Sunil Narine are the only two who have done it consistently, and if there was one bowler who could have potentially joined that list, it was Johnson, with his fearsome international form. In Mumbai’s defence, nobody would have quite expected Maxwell to take off the way he has this season.

But Mumbai themselves had spotted the spark in Maxwell, which is why they shelled out a million dollars to buy him in the 2013 auctions. As for Smith, they had already seen his utility first-hand. What is also hurting Mumbai is the drop in form of Michael Hussey. At the auction, getting Mr Cricket seemed to be one of the sounder moves. But on the field, with Hussey not finding his rhythm, Mumbai are short of options, though there’s Ben Dunk waiting.

The auction rules this year have limited squad sizes to 27 and included uncapped players, both of which have hurt Mumbai. They have traditionally had large squads, and when uncapped players weren’t part of the auctions, Mumbai were savvy in picking the best ones.

In the past few seasons, they seemed to have enough players to field two strong XIs. In their all-conquering 2013 season, Maxwell hardly got a game. The likes of Rishi Dhawan, Dhawal Kulkarni and Nathan Coulter-Nile also spent time on the sidelines. But while these players didn’t play, Mumbai had them as resources to call upon. The bench isn’t looking quite as strong now.

The author is Assistant Editor at Wisden India