Beleaguered Mumbai Indians look for oasis

A lot was expected from Mumbai Indians, who entered the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions. Four matches later, they are at the bottom of the table waiting to earn their first point.

Not much has gone right for the Rohit Sharma-led outfit despite the team boasting of some of the best Twenty20 players. You name them, they have it. However, their performances belie the reputations.

Not once have the Mumbai Indians scored above 150 in the UAE leg so far and it cuts a sorry figure as far as their batting is concerned. And Rohit Sharma admitted as much after losing to Delhi Daredevils on Saturday.

"Our batting needs to improve. We have tried things like changing the batting order. It's not working out at all. Our batters need to step up. Hopefully, we would win a few matches when we go back to Mumbai," the stylish said after Sunday's low scoring match against Delhi.

Even Sharma had to promote himself up as an opener to No 4 and bring down an ageing Michael Hussey in the middle. However, the experiment failed as Sharma ran out on four while Hussey scored an 18-ball 10.

Come Wednesday and it will be Mumbai India's last game in UAE. And Sharma would be hoping to at least finish off the first leg in the desert with a win before they fly into India. However, the challenge is not as easy as it appears. The opposition — Sunrisers Hyderabad led by Shikhar Dhawan— may be the other struggling team placed just above them in the points table, but the challenge is stiff since they will be hungry for their second win after three defeats.

With much at stake Mumbai Indians would like to take monkey off the back with a win at the Dubai International Stadium.