Winning major tournaments depends on teamwork and not individual brilliance, according to former Australian captain Michael Clarke, who believes the Mumbai Indians camp has been divided into groups, preventing players from functioning cohesively. After the sudden captaincy change in pre-season, when Rohit Sharma was unceremoniously replaced by Hardik Pandya, the five-time champions are on the decline. They need to win all their remaining five games to even have a chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
“Yes, I don't know (they will make the play-offs). I think it is wishful thinking for Mumbai this entire IPL. I think there is a lot more going on than what we see on the outside and you can you don't have that many good players and you execute this inconsistently.
“So I think there are different groups in the dressing room and something is not working. They don't fit together, they don't play as a team,” Clarke, who led Australia to victory at the 2015 World Cup, told Star. Sports Cricket Live.
Despite having proven match winners like Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya, Tim David and Jasprit Bumrah, MI have struggled to record wins this season, with six defeats from nine matches.
Their three wins can be attributed to the individual brilliance of pacer Bumrah and big man Romario Shepherd.
“Individual brilliance can get them over the line. If Rohit Sharma comes in and gets another hundred, or Hardik does something with the bat again or Bumrah bowls like a genius again, you never know,” Clarke said.
“I think to win big tournaments you have to be a team and not just individual performances. Unfortunately they haven't played well as a team so I hope they turn it around, but I don't see them winning this match. ” he added.
MI, who occupy the penultimate spot on the points table, will take on Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Tuesday.
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