‘Big team is one which plays freely’, says Harbhajan on MI’s IPL performance

CSK’s fine bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner shared five wickets to restrict Mumbai Indians to 157/8. Jadeja took three wickets and Santner clinched two wickets.

Batting first, Ishan Kishan’s quick-fire 32 off 21 balls was the highest score by MIs. Following this, the wickets fell like pack of cards. However, Tim David’s crucial cameo of 31 off 22 balls and Hrithik Shokeen’s unbeaten knock of 18 then lifted Mumbai to 157-8 in 20 overs.

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Reacting on the MI’s unimpressive start to the 2023 edition of Tata IPL 2023, legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said, while speaking to Star Sports, “We say this team’s bowling is their weakness but the batting has actually disappointed if we analyze it properly. The batters will have to score runs, then only your bowlers will come into the game. They are not playing freely. A big team is one which plays freely. It didn’t seem that a five-time champion team would play this sort of cricket. They have big names in batting but they have disappointed in both the matches.”

“Tilak Varma was definitely the hero in the first match but once Tilak Varma got out today, it seemed no one had the awareness. Tim David was there but he only knows how to play big shots, he doesn’t know how to take the game forward. The singles and doubles that Tilak took were good,” added Harbhajan.

Currently, Mumbai Indians are placed 8th on the IPL 2023 points table.