IPL 2018: Ajit Agarkar Blames Middle-Order for Mumbai Indian's Poor Show

Former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar has blamed the poor form of middle-order as the reason behind defending champions Mumbai Indians‘(MI) poor show in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

Meanwhile, Mumbai are languishing at wrong half of the table with only three wins from nine games. Moreover, they need to win all their games to give them a chance of qualifying in the playoffs.

However, they got crucial two points against Kings XI Punjab as they thumped them by six wickets. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Krunal Panya finished off things after Suryakumar Yadav gave a brilliant start.

Previously, Punjab posted a decent total banking on yet another fifty from Chris Gayle. Gayle has now scored three fifties and one hundred from the five games he has played so far. Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding with the ball as he returned with one for 19 in his full quota.

As a result, Mumbai kept their hopes alive of still making it to the playoffs.

The middle-order has let MI down

Agarkar feels that Mumbai’s batting has let them down especially their middle-order. He also added that the players have failed to cash in on crunch situations and have missed the match.

“Their (MI) bowling attack is quite potent, (but) they haven’t again delivered. Their batting has kind of let them down – their middle order. They just somehow have missed the important moments in a game and have probably let themselves down,” Agarkar said.

Agarkar also emphasised that Mumbai should reshape their batting order. He feels Rohit should bat at the top-order which will help Mumbai in scoring more runs.

“They need to start getting their batting right. Rohit, for me, needs to bat at number three, if he is not opening, and not lower than that. They need Rohit to play well. Others have to chip in. Suryakumar Yadav has been good for them. Apart from that, they haven’t had too many match-winners in their batting, which is a bit of worry,” added Agarkar.

Pollard has been disappointing

Meanwhile, the Mumbai born former cricketer, Agarkar expressed his disappointment with Kieron Pollard’s form. So far, Pollard has notched up 76 runs from seven games. Moreover, with the ball, he hasn’t opened his accounts yet.

“More than me Mumbai Indians are disappointed. They obviously trust him (Pollard) a lot, rely on him a lot, so they want him in good form. He is in bad form, the confidence is not there. They depend a lot on his power at the end of the innings and it has not happened this year,” Agarkar mentioned.

In conclusion, the former pacer also raised doubts whether MI can make a turnaround like past seasons.

Also read: I think we are still alive in the tournament – Rohit Sharma