In the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a loss by 27 runs at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati.
After the loss, former Team India cricketer Anil Kumble feels that the “Paltan” lacked the purpose and intent with the ball.
“It felt like the Mumbai Indians lacked a bit of purpose and intent with the ball, and that certainly spilled over into the batting. It was always going to be a big task to score 151 in 11 overs,” he said on JioStar.
He also heaped praise on RR`s explosive opening batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who smashed 39 runs off just 14 balls, including a boundary and five maximums. The former cricketer said that the left-handed batsman made the batting look easy against the star pacer. He also said that it is outstanding the way the youngster is scoring runs.
“Sooryavanshi makes it look easy against one of the world`s best bowlers. First ball, he hits him (Bumrah) for a six and then sets him up. He set the bowler up, not the other way around. We`ve generally seen Bumrah set up batters so many times, but here, Sooryavanshi set Bumrah up to bowl that slower ball on the third delivery, and he was waiting for it to hit him for another six. It was brilliant batting by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, just the way he strikes the ball and the consistency he has shown in terms of strike-rate. He is striking at close to 300 in every game and scoring more than 30 runs consistently, which is outstanding,” said Kumble.
On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal delivered an unbeaten knock of 77 runs in just 32 balls, with the help of 10 boundaries and four maximums
With this, the “Paltan” has now suffered two defeats in three matches of the ongoing league. They have slipped to the seventh position with a net run rate (NRR) of -0.715 and two points.
Riyan Parag-led Royals are enjoying the top spot with three wins in as many matches. They have a net run rate (NRR) of +2.403 and six points.
(With PTI Inputs)
