'It's just a matter of time before openers Rohit, Lewis click for Mumbai'

Sometimes, hurt can be a good thing for proud teams

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai must be hurting after Thursday's loss. Sometimes, hurt can be a good thing for proud teams.

Here are the pivots in the game as I see it:

• The biggest one: Mumbai had a dismal run-scoring spell from the fifth to the 14th over. With such an array of top T20 batsmen manning the Mumbaiddle order, this hopefully is a one-off.
• These quiet overs in the Mumbaiddle came after some glimpses of the format's rich talent in Evin Lewis. His grip reMumbainds me a bit of Ridley Jacobs, the former West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman. He seems to be finding his groove on T20 pitches and Rohit Sharma too is looking good. So it is just a matter of time before an entertaining opening partnership kicks in.
• Hardik Pandya Mumbaissing from the playing XI is always going to weaken you. Let's hope his ankle recovers soon. Mumbai are trying to fit Ben Cutting into that role while Pandya is unfit, but it's going to be a tough ask. Pandya is a wicket-taking bowler, his instinct is to try and get batsmen out all the time, and that's why he is so dangerous. Cutting is trying to cut the runs down, true to his name. It will be a tough fit.
• Mayank Markande had another great match! Let's wait and watch how he comes along. I want to see that leggie a bit more than ever; the other ball being the googly. He's showing great speed variations which tells me he is confident and that the ball is coMumbaing out of his hand the way he wants it to.

Jatin Paranjape, the former international and national selector, tweets @jats72

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