'Just a matter of a first win' - Zaheer Khan backs Mumbai Indians to make comeback after four defeats

The Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2022 campaign has turned out to be disastrous so far as they have lost all their first four matches with the recent one being a seven-wicket defeat against the Royals Challengers Bangalore at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on April 9. The Mumbai bowlers failed to defend 151 runs which RCB comfortably chased down by the penultimate over.

As MI failed to open their account, the franchise’s Director of Cricket Operations Zaheer Khan has said that the five-time champions failed to sustain the momentum and that is the reason why they have found themselves at the receiving end so far. Giving further clarification on the same, he also said that the team will need to focus on the positives in this season so far going forward.

Focus on the positives: Zaheer Khan

“Basically, you’ve got to close those moments in the game where the momentum is shifting and as a team, we haven’t been able to do that. So, that is something we have to focus on, focus on the positives and whatever things have been working for us. Keep working on that, keep building on that because it’s a long season so we have to keep things tight, keep things together”, said Zaheer Khan while speaking in a video uploaded by Iplt20.com.

“Like I said, there are still 11 league matches to go, so we’ve got to get on a roll. We’ve seen in this tournament that teams get on a losing roll or the winning momentum and those back-to-back wins are something which we will to see. It’s just a matter of a first win. At times, you get tight as well, you start doubting yourselves in situations where the pressure is highest”, he added.

While the Mumbai Indians were outplayed by RCB in the last game, they had momentum with them in the three games prior to that. They went down to DC in their season opener by four wickets despite running through the Capitals’ top-order before the middle-order duo of Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav stole the show. MI lost the plot during their stiff run chase against Rajasthan Royals and went down by 23 runs.

The Rohit Sharma-led side were then blown away by Pat Cummins’ whirlwind knock during their encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders where his blockbuster 15-ball 56* helped KKR get over the line with four overs to spare.