'Have to find out how MI get so lucky': Ashwin draws curious 2018 parallel after Hardik and co's Eliminator win over GT
Mumbai Indians stayed alive in the race for the final after defeating Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Saturday. After opting to bat, MI were dominant from ball one, with Jonny Bairstow – the franchise's debutant for the marquee clash – turning up the heat with a lightning-quick 47 off 22 balls. Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, got two reprieves early in his innings as he was dropped twice before scoring a brilliant 81 off 50 balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin, India's former spinner who plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, made an interesting observation about MI's lucky reprieves in the Eliminator match. The spinner drew parallels from his own experience facing MI during a 2018 match to illustrate his point.
'Prasidh Krishna was after the Purple Cap. The way he was bowling today, he would've gone to another level in the Eliminator. He was clocking 150kph. There was one over where Jonny Bairstow smashed him for 26 runs, but in that over, he tried to get his wicket in 2-3 balls. It was an incisive over, but he couldn't get the wicket. And after that, the game went for the worse,' Ashwin began.
"He dropped a catch. Then, Kusal Mendis dropped a catch off Siraj's bowling. Then, Rohit was unstoppable. It looked like a hand of god was with Rohit Sharma. He had the luck but he capitalised on the chances.
'I've seen one thing against Mumbai Indians, every time. In 2018, I was leading Punjab against MI. They were 80-odd for five wickets in 13 overs. They weren't anywhere in the game. Suddenly, the floodlights lost current and we had a 20-minute break. And when the game resumed, Kieron Pollard went ballistic and they went to smash around 180-200 runs.'
Ashwin added that MI "always get lucky.' 'Of course, you earn your luck. But MI always get lucky. We have to find out how they're getting so lucky,' said Ashwin.
MI are the five-time champions of the league and are the joint-highest winners alongside Chennai Super Kings.
Mumbai Indians will face Punjab Kings for a place in the final of the IPL. Punjab Kings might be low on morale after an 8-wicket thumping against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but they finished at the top of the points table in the league stage with 19 points.
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