‘They do well until 15th over but then lose the plot’ – Robin Uthappa expresses concern on MI’s death bowling frailties

Mumbai Indians revived their playoff aspirations after edging past Rajasthan Royals in a last-over thriller at the Wankhede on Sunday, April 30. While Tim David’s blitzing cameo with the bat helped the home side complete a record-breaking chase, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa wasn’t happy with Mumbai’s bowling performance in the first innings.

A sizzling victory over pre-tournament favourites sees the Mumbai-based outfit move to seventh place in the IPL 2023 points table. However, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa expressed concerns over Mumbai Indians’ woeful display with the ball, especially in the death overs, in the recent matches.

He reckoned that even though the team will be overjoyed by their victory against Rajasthan, they are leaking runs at an alarming rate in the death overs, which can come back to haunt them as the tournament progresses. Uthappa pointed out the staggering numbers behind Mumbai’s awful death-bowling performances in recent matches. 

“This game will make it feel like all’s well with the Mumbai Indians, but it really isn’t. They really need to figure out their bowling and how they finish overs because they’re doing fairly decent until the 15th over, especially in the last three games, they were on course to defend 170, and 180, and then in the last five over something happens and they kind of lose the plot. Then they give 60, 70, 80, 90 runs in the last five overs, which is diabolical for them,” Uthappa said on Jio Cinema.

Despite the return of star English pacer Jofra Archer, Rohit Sharma’s side were unable to contain their opponents in the last five overs. They conceded in excess of 50 runs in the last five overs of the first innings with Riley Meredith returning with an unimpressive 1/51 in his four overs. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence is really taking a toll on the Mumbai bowlers this season, and they will need to sort out their tactics with the business end of the tournament fast approaching.