We hope Mumbai stays lucky for us

Two wrong calls in a row at the toss and two consecutive defeats. That is what comes to mind straightaway when one looks back to understand why things are not clicking.

One desperately wanted to win the toss and bat first against Rajasthan Royals, after having a close look at the pitch just before the toss. I played at Motera shortly before that, in the final of a domestic tournament and nearly 800 runs were scored on that day, with neither side losing their quota of wickets. It was indeed very strange to find the nature of the Motera wicket changing drastically in a few weeks. Batting second, one found the ball not coming on to the bat at all. One needs the ball to come on to the bat at a certain speed to play attacking shots. When we batted second, there was hardly any pace on the wicket to force run-scoring. This sounds like finding excuses but one cannot stay away from stating a fact. Also, the Rajasthan bowlers mixed it up very cleverly to make run-scoring even more difficult.

We started off in a great way, with Ashok Dinda claiming a wicket with the very first ball of the match. He also gave us a huge breakthrough by not allowing Yusuf Pathan to cut loose. Besides that, though, there was not much to write home about our bowling. Angelo Mathews was for once really off colour, struggling to find his line and length. Ishant Sharma too was not at his best and, everything put together, it wasn't a great story to tell.

When we went out to bat, the opening stand once again didn't flourish. It is very important to get a good, solid start, especially when one is chasing about eight runs an over on a tricky wicket. Most of the batsmen did score at a run-a-ball, but we needed someone to take the bowling by the scruff of the neck. That didn't happen and we slowly faded out from the contest. It was indeed strange to have wickets in hand, yet lose the match by a distance.

We take on Mumbai Indians in our very next game. They have also suffered a defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore. I believe our contest against Sachin and company will be interesting as both teams will be desperate to get back to winning ways. We will have to be disciplined in every department of the game if we want to really turn the tables. Taking on Mumbai at home will be a tough call.

Chris Gayle should, in all probability, be fit for the match. The change in climatic conditions got the better of the big man and he had to be left back in the hotel, combating flu rather than the Rajasthan bowlers. I believe he will be the last person wanting to be left out in a big game.

I just hope that Mumbai as a venue once again turns out to be lucky for us as in the first game (against Deccan Chargers). We need to really get going from now on. Lots of ups and downs are happening. A lot is still awaited before one really gets the clear picture of the knock-out phase.