'But their bowling is poor. Beyond Jasprit Bumrah, there is no one to actually support them in that bowling attack, and the CSK batters took them apart.'
Beyond Jasprit Bumrah, there is not much in Mumbai Indians' bowling attack and they need to improve in that department of the game, said West Indian legend Brian Lara after MI lost to Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs in their IPL match in Mumbai.
Bumrah (0/27 from 4 overs) had an ordinary day against CSK considering the high standard he sets for himself and captain Hardik Pandya was hammered for three consecutive sixes by peerless MS Dhoni as MI lost the match at home on Sunday night.
"Not much, I think when we look at Mumbai Indians, a lot of people have them as favourites, simply because they were batting so well, they scored 230 runs, they chased on 196, made it look very easy, 15 overs, so on that fact I think, we pick them as favourites," Lara said on Star Sports.
"But their bowling is poor. Beyond Jasprit Bumrah, there is no one to actually support them in that bowling attack, and the CSK batters took them apart."
MI did not use their spinners after the eighth over as Shivam Dube, who has been impressive against the slow bowlers, was at the crease.
"The spinners, they only bowled 4 overs after around 7 runs an over, but they weren't trusted with Shivam Dube out there. So, MI will have to improve in that area, they've got to find a couple of bowlers, match-winning bowlers," the batting great said.
"What it tells me more about this game is that, if you've got a good bowling unit, like CSK, you look at their bowling, every single bowler played a part in that game, every single bowler.
"We had dot balls at the time, we thought that Mumbai Indians were supposed to accelerate, they didn't."
On Pandya being hit for three consecutive sixes in the last over, Lara said, "For me, Hardik Pandya had it tough, I think he to turned himself in the last couple of overs, the master (MS Dhoni) did, you know, three sixes in the last 4-5 balls."
Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer feels that Hardik Pandya's decision to bowl the 20th over instead of Akash Madhwal in the Chennai Super Kings innings was a "debatable" decision.
Bumrah bowled the 19th over, which left Hardik with the option to bowl the final over or let Akash Madhwal finish off the innings for MI in the match they lost by 20 runs on Sunday.
Hardik bowled the final over of the CSK innings and conceded 26 runs, laced with Dhoni's hattrick of sixes, which powered CSK to 206/4, which seemed like a far-fetched thought.
"Well, I think if I have to criticise his captaincy, I think probably the 20th over he bowled that is debatable. I think he did well by not bowling spin to Dube. Batting wise, he could have done well. I can't question his captaincy about it. I think only in the field the 20th over was debatable. Whether he should have bowled or Akash Madhwal, who is probably a better death bowler compared to Hardik," Jaffer said in ESPNcricinfo's Timed Out show.
Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody believes that in order to turn the season around, Hardik needs to use the abundance of experience around him.
"It is a challenge, but he has a lot of good people around him. You look at the dugout there is a lot of experience, a lot of international experience, and a lot of IPL experience. Also on the field, there is a lot of experience and that's what he needs to draw from and he has to take on board that support, from that experience and try to get the ship turned in the right direction," Moody said.
The 20-run loss to the Chennai Super Kings marked their fourth defeat in six matches in the ongoing season. The five-time champions are in the 8th spot with four points and a negative run rate of 0.234.
MI will look to return to winning ways against the Punjab Kings on Thursday at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, in Mullanpur.
