Former India batsman Abhinav Mukund has stated that he believes Mumbai Indians (MI) should continue playing Naman Dhir at No. 3 after their win over Gujarat Titans (GT) on Monday.

Dhir was sent in to bat at 3 against GT after Danish debutant Malewar was dismissed in the second over. MI lost two more wickets in the powerplay as Dhir had to watch it all from the non-striker’s side.

Naman Dhir saves MI from collapse

The drop in early wickets meant that Naman Dhir was batting at number 3 rather than playing his usual role at the end of the innings. Dhir did his job excellently to avoid collapse and give MI a chance.

After arriving early, Dhir had to watch his more experienced partners Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav depart within the powerplay as Kagiso Rabada spit fire all over Ahmedabad. In the middle overs, Tilak Varma was noticeably struggling to put bat on ball, but Naman Dhir provided a valuable innings of 45 runs off 32 balls to keep the innings afloat.

Varma finally completed his century with the last ball of the innings, and Dhir was the second highest scorer.

Mukund says MI should continue with Dhir at No.3

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, former India batsman Mukund said: “He is a very, very good player who unfortunately has not made a run at the top of the Mumbai order due to his abundance of resources.”

When asked if Naman Dhir should continue at 3 for MI, Mukund added: “So right now, they have to answer whether he stays at 3 and I think that is something they will do.” [do] because they found a winning formula.”

Mumbai Indians snapped a four-match losing streak with a dominant 99-run win over the Gujarat Titans.

Mukund explains the effects of letting Dhir bat at three

Talking about what would be the consequences of Dhir batting at three, Mukund explained: “Surya bats at four, and based on the left-right ratio [combination]maybe they switch between Rutherford, Pandya and Tilak there for that five, six and seven.”

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The match against GT was the first time in 19 matches that Naman Dhir batted at number 3 for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Apart from his heroics with the bat, Naman Dhir also took three catches in the field.

MI’s next matches

Mumbai Indians will take on arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings at their home base at Wankhede Stadium on April 26. MI’s victory over GT will arguably bring them relief and confidence after their dominant performance.

The two most successful teams in IPL history are currently seventh and eighth in the points table with four points each. Both teams have only two wins in six games. This means that IPL’s ‘El Clásico’ could simply be a battle for survival rather than the grand spectacle expected of it.