‘None of them could celebrate their World Cup selection’ – Aakash Chopra after MI’s loss to LSG

Aakash Chopra (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

Mumbai Indians continued their subpar campaign in the ongoing IPL (Indian Premier League) 2024. The five-time champions took on Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium in the 48th game of the tournament and suffered a four-wicket defeat,

Mumbai Indians posted a total of 144 runs in the first innings after a poor performance with the bat. The story in the second innings did not change either as Lucknow managed to chase the target with four balls to spare. 

After the game, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra analysed MI’s loss and highlighted how every MI player who was selected for India’s squad for the T20 World Cup was unable to celebrate due to the result against LSG. 

“Rohit Sharma’s last four birthdays have been like one, two, three, and four. He has played five balls in each of his last four birthdays and has scored one, two, three, and four, which is very unfortunate, but he has been unable to score runs. Wickets kept falling one after the other,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Also read: India Squad for T20 World Cup 2024: Complete Player List and Squad Details

“You feel surprised and slightly shocked about the sort of cricket Mumbai are playing. Suryakumar Yadav got out down the leg side. Then Tilak Varma got run out. Hardik Pandya – first-ball duck. Four MI players are going with the Indian team and none of them could celebrate their selection,” he added.

You can’t defend the indefensible: Aakash Chopra

Furthermore, Chopra scrutinised Mumbai Indians’ performance with the bat, opining that there were never enough runs on the board to defend and the side only had themselves to blame for their performance.

“You scored only 144 runs in total. As the saying goes, you can’t defend the indefensible. It was that story. Runs weren’t there at all on the board. They have to blame themselves because they have such a long and formidable batting lineup. It seems like they would be destructive and incredible,” Chopra said.