IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians paying for their mega auction mistakes?

The most successful IPL team, Mumbai Indians with 5 IPL titles is languishing at the bottom of the 10-team table without any points. The Rohit Sharma-led team, though has a reputation for crawling out of holes, has suffered as many as 5 back to back defeats this season. Even in 2015, the team lifted itself from 5 consecutive defeats at the beginning of the season and went on to win the IPL title. But there are slim chances of history repeating itself this season because of the 10-team format and they now need to buckle up.

Here are the top 4 things that might have gone wrong for MI:

The Mega Auction goof-up:

MI failed to retain its swashbuckling core during the mega auction that has come to haunt them in the ongoing season. The result of their mistakes is now being reflected in the form of the team's failure. From not being able to successfully bid on Trent Boult to buying Jofra Archer who they knew was going to miss the whole season to retaining the woefully out of form Kieron Pollard, Mumbai is now paying the price of the decisions they made in February.

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The worrisome top-order failure:

The MI skipper, the across all formats India skipper, the opener for India, and his IPL team, Rohit Sharma seems to be reeling under the pressure of immense expectation. The skipper though has got good starts, he has miserably failed in converting them into needful knocks for the team.
He has so far scored 41, 10, 3, 26 and 28 in 5 matches so far. Apart from him, MI's other opener, Ishan Kishan hasn't been consistent for the team. Just to get Kishan on board, Mumbai splurged 15.25 crores, did not bid on a lot of potential players and waited for the 2nd day of the auction. However, the worth is being questioned now as Kishan has only performed in 2 matches so far. He has scored 81, 54, 14, 26 and 3 in 5 games.

Bumrah, the lone wolf?

During the bidding, MI lost to Rajasthan who retained Trent Boult. However, they got hold of Jofra Archer who was earlier a part of the Rajasthan squad. But is it useful? Until 2021, the team boasted of a fearful bowling line-up consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Rahul Chahar, the responsibility has fallen solely on Bumrah now.

Bumrah and Boult together got 52 wickets for MI during their 2020 title win and Boult has been in his magnificent form for Rajasthan. On the other hand, Jofra Archer who is under rehabilitation had opted out of the season even before the auction. Apparently, Bumrah too has failed to impress so far and has picked only 4 wickets in 5 games. Although for MI, Murugan Ashwin has performed, the other bowlers, Basil Thampi, Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat have proved way too expensive.

The missing matchwinners

With the top order failing, the lower middle order not showing up responsibly, MI has been heavily dependent on Suryakumar Yadav's performance who has performed well consistently since his return from the injury. Apart from him, they have Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma who have come out good. But MI is severely being affected by the absence of Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, and the Pandya brothers. The missing charm of Bumrah, Sharma, and Kishan is further holding them back.