‘Sign of a badly constructed sqaud’: Twitter reacts after Punjab hands Mumbai another defeat

Punjab and Mumbai faced each other in the 23rd game of the Indian T20 League. After winning the toss, the latter chose to bowl first. They had a poor start with the ball as Punjab openers Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Mayank Agarwal scored 65 runs in the powerplay. Agarwal was the aggressor while Dhawan ensured that the team doesn’t lose a wicket.

Agarwal scored 52 off 32 balls including six fours and two sixes striking at 162.5 before he got out to leggie Murugan Ashwin. The scorecard read 97/1 after the dismissal. Jonny Bairstow came out to bat at this stage but struggled during his stay at the crease. He scored 12 off 13 before being clean bowled by left-arm medium-pacer Jaydev Unadkat with the score reading 127/2.

In form Liam Livingstone (2) followed the next over as he was clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. It looked like Mumbai is making inroads in the batting lineup of Punjab but that wasn’t to be. Dhawan went on to score 70 off 50 balls including three sixes and five fours. He was caught by Kieron Pollard off Basil Thampi with the score reading 151/4 in 17 overs.

The likes of Jitesh Sharma (30* off 15) and Shahrukh Khan (15 off 6) took the team to a competitive total of 198/5. Talking about Mumbai’s bowling, they looked listless against the strong batting of Punjab. In reply, the five-time winners got off to a great start as their skipper Rohit Sharma scored 28 off 17 before he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada with the score reading 31/1 in 3.4 overs.

Ishan Kishan (3) followed the next over as he became the victim of Vaibhav Arora. At 32/2, the likes of Dewald Brewis (49) and Tilak Varma stitched a partnership of 84 runs before the former was dismissed by Odean Smith. Varma scored 36 off 20 including three fours and two sixes before he was the victim of a terrible mix up and was run out.

Pollard’s poor form continued as he could score only 10 before being run out . In form, Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 30) took the team to 177 before being dismissed by Rabada with 22 needed off eight. The team was restricted to 186/9, losing the game by 12 runs.

This is how Twitter reacted

Jaydev Unadkat couldn't complete the job here but he is a capable batter in these kind of situations. He has the ability to go for the big shots.

Unadkat's batting stats in T20s since 2021:

– 145 Runs
– 29 Avg
– 146.46 SR
– 1 Fifty#MIvPBKS

— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 13, 2022

Mumbai Indians, the 5 time IPL champions, now 0 from 5 wins in this year's IPL and virtually out.

Sign of a very badly constructed squad that they have repeatedly not picked 4 overseas players in their XI

— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) April 13, 2022

.@mayankcricket spoke of backing Odean and he’s done his job tonight. Thoda aur intezar Mumbai! #MIvPBKS #IPL2022

— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) April 13, 2022

Not @mipaltan’s day today. They’ll have to wait a bit longer. Well played @PunjabKingsIPL phatte chak te @mayankcricket @SDhawan25 @jiteshsharma_ 💥 What an amazing final over by Odean Smith🔥 #MIvPBKS #IPL2022

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 13, 2022

The run outs cost them the match. It was Mumbai’s match with 60 of 6. Punjab kept nerve and huge 2 points. #MIvsPBKS

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 13, 2022

An appreciation tweet for Rahul Chahar who got hit for 29 runs in the first over, but then gave only 15 runs in next three overs. And he bowled most of them against the cricket giants like Pollard and Surya. 👏 #IPL #MIvsPBKS #TATA2022 pic.twitter.com/bCkmMy29SR

— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) April 13, 2022

Has to be said. Arshdeep Singh is among the top 3-4 death bowlers in the IPL.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 13, 2022

Yes pitch is flat but if you can play wrist spin this well like young Dewald Brevis showed us, you are here to stay. #mi

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 13, 2022

@ImRo45 looks gutted.. Understandable given the way @mipaltan have struggled..#IPL2022#PBKSvMI

— W V Raman (@wvraman) April 13, 2022

5 trophies, 5 coaches, 5 matches, zero points.

High time MI brings in their A game in their remaining matches.

#MIvsPBKS #TATA2022 pic.twitter.com/AOcwawLZUj

— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) April 13, 2022