The Hindu : Sport : Mumbai Indians promises a turnaround this season

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Mumbai Indians promises a turnaround this season

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

— File Photo

EXPLOSIVE: Mumbai Indians will be banking heavily on Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya to give them blistering starts.

Bangalore: There are vibrant clues in the air for Mumbai Indians, the most expensive franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), as the second season of frenetic cricket begins this weekend.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar is in ominous form and in South Africa he will have a rich bag of memories to dwell upon. World Cup 2003 and Tendulkar’s batting blitz are still hot on history’s pages.

This time around he will lead a team that has got fresh reinforcements. The return of the prodigal son Zaheer Khan, the World’s premier fast bowler on current form, is a welcome sign.

Zaheer’s earlier team Royal Challengers Bangalore opted for Robin Uthappa and obviously never foresaw the shift in terrain from India’s placid tracks to South Africa’s pitches with pace and bounce.

The inclusion of South Africa’s talented batsman J.P. Duminy and the presence of last year’s stand-in skipper Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes as bowling and fielding coaches respectively will also help Mumbai Indians gain insights into the playing conditions.

Weighty presence

The weighty presence of Sanath Jayasuriya, who flexed his muscles briefly last year, and the feisty Harbhajan Singh’s desire to prove his mettle on the field rather than dish out unsavoury slaps off it are all factors that can bolster the team.

Tendulkar’s men might well erase memories of a below-par show that undid their top-dollar tag last year.

The team’s bag of woes in the inaugural IPL started with the initial absence of an injured Tendulkar and then got aggravated through the infamous slap dished out by Harbhajan Singh to S. Sreesanth.

After losing its first four matches, the team then strung six consecutive victories with the likes of Abhishek Nayar grabbing the limelight and then another inexplicable round of defeats forced Mumbai Indians to watch the semifinals and final from the stands.

The balance sheet reflected a fifth-place finish but Tendulkar and Co., are promising a turn-around this season.

An IPL triumph cannot be the ideal salve for Tendulkar’s heart that bleeds over the loss in the 2003 World Cup final but it might be small consolation.

There is also the small matter of Tendulkar and Twenty20.

The maestro skipped India’s winning run in the World Twenty20 championship in South Africa in 2007 but with the World Cup in England in June, the clues as to whether he will be available for selection will be known in the coming days.

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