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Chennai and Mumbai have a mountain to climb. They have to win eight of their remaining 10 games to entertain hopes of making the play-offs in IPL 2022.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are the two of the most successful teams in the history of the Indian Premier League. They have dominated the cash-rich T20 league, winning six out of seven titles since 2015.
The two teams are struggling to get going in IPL 2022, and placed at the bottom of the 10-team league standings in IPL 2022 after suffering four defeats each.
Given their recent form, MI and CSK face a near impossible task of winning eight of their last 10 games to qualify for the play-offs.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com looks at what ails the two teams in IPL 2022:
MUMBAI INDIANS
Rohit's poor form
Captain Rohit Sharma has struggled with the bat. He has scored just 80 runs from four games, which has hampered MI big time, especially because of the lack of runs from the middle order.
Bumrah's below-par showing
MI's strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah also hasn't been able to reproduce his best form with the ball, while the other MI pace bowlers -- Basil Thampi, Daniel Sams and Tymal Mills -- have gone for plenty of runs.
Bumrah has gone wicketless in three of the four games MI have played in 2022, conceding more than eight runs per over.
Lack of a quality spinner
MI's auction strategy was strange. They splurged a massive Rs 8 crore (rs 80 million) on the injured Jofra Archer, who was unavailable for this season, but failed to pick a good spinner even though the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin were at the auction.
MI's lone specialist spinner this season so far is leggie Murugan Ashwin, who has taken four wickets in four games, and never looked like winning matches on his own.
Missed Suryakumar
Suryakumar Yadav was a big miss for MI in the first two games.
He smashed two half-centuries after being cleared to return following a finger injury, but the poor form of the other batters has seen MI finish with below par totals in both those games to finish on the losing side.
Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma have provided the spark, but the lack of runs from senior pros Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have hurt Mumbai big time.
Questionable team selection
Another proof of MI's ill-fated auction strategy has been their team selection in their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In a desperate move, MI dropped the struggling pace duo of Sams and Mills, as they went in with just two overseas players in the playing XI. But even that gamble failed, and MI suffered a seven wicket thrashing.
Tim David came in with a lot of reputation, failed in the first two games and has been dropped since. West Indian hard-hitting spin all-rounder Fabian Allen is yet to get a game.
MI's biggest strength over the years is the depth in their squad, but this season the cupboard looks bare.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Poor form of openers
CSK's main problem this season is the poor showing of their openers.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has struggled big time, scoring just 18 runs from four matches. Veteran batter Robin Uthappa has not been consistent, with just one fifty in three games, while New Zealand's Devon Conway was dropped after the first game.
It remains to be seen if CSK persist with the struggling Gaikwad or opt for a change as they aim to get their season back on track.
Lack of a finisher
All-rounder Shivam Dube has is the lone bright spot for CSK, having had a couple of good knocks in the middle order. Moeen Ali has also done well, but there's nothing from the other CSK batsmen.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni started the tournament with a cracking half-century against KKR, but after that has scored 42 runs from 40 balls in the next three games.
Change in captaincy affecting CSK?
Dhoni's move to pass on the leadership role to Ravindra Jadeja two days before the start of IPL 2022 doesn't seem to have worked for CSK.
Jadeja hasn't been able to produce match-winning performances to inspire his team.
He has scored 66 runs from four matches and taken only one wicket conceding nearly eight runs per over.
Deepak Chahar's absence hurting CSK
The pace bowler's absence is a big blow for CSK. In his absence, the other Indian pacers have failed to live up to expectations. Tushar Deshpande and Mukesh Choudhary have not only failed to take wickets, but gone for nine per over and 10 per over respectively.
Veteran all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is CSK's best performer with the ball, with six wickets in four games, but even he has gone at nearly 8.5 per over.