Former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla recently revealed what went wrong with the Mumbai Indians (MI) team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Piyush Chawla stated that no player was responsible for their disappointing performance in the last season of the Indian Premier League.
All-rounder Hardik was appointed as the captain of the Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 season. However, the five-time IPL champions became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament. The Mumbai-based franchise registered just four wins from 14 group stage matches in the IPL 2024.
Piyush Chawla played 11 matches for the Mumbai Indians in this year’s tournament. The bowler took 13 wickets in 11 games at an average of 24.00 and an economy rate of 8.91, with best bowling figures of 4/22. He was the second-highest wicket-taker for MI, behind Jasprit Bumrah, who took 20 wickets.
We were one of the strongest teams on paper – Piyush Chawla
In an interview with YouTube channel Two Sloggers, Piyush Chawla said that Mumbai Indians struggled to gain momentum, which affected their overall performance. Chawla said that the team finished in 10th place despite having a strong lineup on paper.
“I won’t say anything went wrong. T20 is all about good momentum and we didn’t have that. Sometimes it happens. KKR had good momentum but we didn’t. It’s not that one particular player was at fault. When you don’t have that momentum, things change here and there. So I think we kind of lost our way. On paper, we were one of the strongest teams. Looking at it like that, you’d wonder how this team reached the 10th spot,” Chawla said.
The Hardik Pandya-led side started the recent tournament with three consecutive losses before picking up two consecutive wins. However, they failed to sustain their winning momentum in the IPL 2024. The Mumbai team won just one match out of their last seven group stage matches in the T20 tournament.
It was not the fault of any player – Piyush Chawla
Piyush Chawla dismissed the idea that any individual player was responsible for Mumbai Indians’ poor performance. He stressed that luck was not on their side and added that the matches could have gone their way had they been luckier.
“It was not the fault of any particular player. Luck was also two or three feet away from us. Those shots, which on any other day would have made sixes, went into the hands of the fielder. When we bowled, those half-chances became sixes,” Chawla explained.
Mumbai Indians last won the trophy during the 2021 IPL season. They have failed to make it to the playoffs three times in the last four editions of the tournament. The five-time IPL champions will be hoping to bounce back in next year’s tournament. They will revamp the squad during the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.
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