'I would want Mumbai to express themselves' - Pragyan Ojha urges five-time champions to end IPL 2022 on a high

The Mumbai Indians had a forgettable IPL 2022 where it took them nine attempts to register their first win. They also became the first team to be knocked out of the tournament after their 36-run defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants last month. MI will next be seen in action against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 17.

With Mumbai’s tournament already over, former left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has come forward and urged the Rohit Sharma-led side to express themselves and play a fearless brand of cricket in their remaining fixtures. At the same time, he is also hoping for skipper Rohit and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan to return to form and felt that Mumbai should not make any changes in their bowling attack at all.

Players like Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma should look to regain their form: Pragyan Ojha

“I would want Mumbai to express themselves now that they are free from the pressure of having won five titles. Players like Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma should look to regain their form because this will be like [a] match simulation and in the end, they are Indian team players so there is a bit of emotion. But I don’t see any changes in the bowling as they have finally found a working combination,” said Pragyan Ojha while speaking to Cricbuzz.

An upbeat Mumbai Indians will be heading into this contest on the back of a five-wicket win over arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in a low-scoring encounter. With that victory, MI ended CSK’s title defence by knocking them out of the playoffs race. The five-time champions would be hoping to do the same to a demoralized SRH who must win their last two matches at any cost.

Kane Williamson & Co. now find themselves in a spot of bother after heavy defeats to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. The Orange Army will get to 14 points should they win both games. However, that will not be enough as they need to register victories by a bigger margin taking their negative NRR into consideration and then hope the other results go their way as well.