Lagatar24 Desk
Five-time champion team Mumbai Indians will face Rajasthan Royals in IPL-2021 Phase-2 on Tuesday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah. Both the teams have 10-10 points from 12 matches. Both need to win the remaining matches and improve their net run rate to secure a place in the playoffs. Notably, the first match between Mumbai and Rajasthan in this season was played on 29 April and Mumbai won that match by 7 wickets.
So far this season, the teams of Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore have qualified for the play-offs. Teams of Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings are vying for the fourth place. Currently, in terms of net run rate, Kolkata (+0.294) is in the best position and are leading the race with their win over Hyderabad on Sunday. Rajasthan (-0.337) and Mumbai (-0.453) will have to look to improve their net run rates with wins. For this they need to win by a big margin.
Interestingly, the defending champion Mumbai team has not been able to perform well in the UAE leg so far. The team has lost 4 out of 5 matches. At the same time, Rajasthan has won 2 out of 5 matches and has to face defeat in 3rd match.
The biggest problem of Mumbai Indians is the out of form of many star players. Captain Rohit Sharma himself is not in very good shape. Hardik Pandya has been able to show a good game in only one match. However, he is still not bowling. Kieron Pollard is also not playing up to his reputation. Ishan Kishan had to drop in the last match.
In such a situation, getting to the playoffs is not so easy for the Mumbai Indians.
