Just like the star actors that call their city home, Mumbai Indians have a habit of arriving fashionably late to the IPL party.
But what was seen as a harmless trait has become a serious problem. The five-time champions finished dead last in two of the last three seasons and have now lost the opening two games of this season.
Under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, Mumbai used to stumble their way around the opening weeks before sharpening their focus towards the end of the tournament.
But over the past few years, the story has changed. The clunky engine is just refusing to kick into life, especially since the star names that formed the backbone of the franchise have gone in and out of the squad.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya was away for two seasons at Gujarat Titans, middle order heavyweight Kieron Pollard is now a coach and Rohit's batting in IPL has fallen drastically.
Mumbai's one trump card – Jasprit Bumrah – is injured this season, which has reduced their bowling to one of the weakest in the league, leaving current captain Pandya to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Moreover, unlike previous seasons, there are no 'weak' teams anymore. Sides like Bengaluru and Punjab, who were trolled for their poor planning and imbalanced squads, have got their act together. This year, both sides have done their homework and picked teams that are neither light in batting nor bowling. Plus, their new captains are also leading from the front.
That is another issue facing Mumbai, which in a way is a result of their spectacular success. Not only are Mumbai five-time champions, they have the current India ODI and T20 captains in their side – Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav – while Bumrah has led the national team in Tests.
The sudden change of leadership in Mumbai last season was not well received by fans or team members, with discontent within the squad becoming evident.
This time, the emotions might have mellowed down as all the local star players returned as ICC champions – at the T20 World Cup and/or the Champions Trophy. But it turned out that the underlying issues were not resolved.
Mumbai's batting has struggled in the opening two matches, and only uncapped spinner Vignesh Puthur has made any sort of impact so far in bowling.
Mumbai posted below-par scores of 155 and 160 in their defeats to Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans batting first and second.
Captain Pandya said that it is too early to panic, but admitted his batters need to step up to the challenge.
"There should not be a concern about batting but at the moment I think it is time," Pandya said after Gujarat beat them by 36 runs in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
"We all need to take responsibilities and it's still early stage. But at the same time, I think batters have to come to the party. And yeah, hopefully they come soon."
What has made things worse is the loss of form of two of Mumbai's main players. Rohit has been subdued in IPL for some time now, scoring less than 400 runs in four of the past five seasons. Suryakumar, their batting backbone, has suddenly lost his touch entirely at the international and domestic level, although he looked good in the defeat to Gujarat.
Also, their dream bowling partnership of Bumrah and Jofra Archer never materialised owing to successive injuries, leaving the franchise struggling to put together a half-decent bowling attack.
That, coupled with a disjointed dressing room, has resulted in a lack of cohesion in planning and execution.
Still, the season has just started.
Mumbai are thankfully back in their home ground – Wankhede – for Monday's clash against title holders Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai have lost two out of two and if they lose on Monday as well, would be halfway through to the point of no return where qualification for the play-offs becomes extremely difficult.
Being in such a precarious position so early in the tournament is not endearing anymore.
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
Sri Lanka squad
Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.
The five pillars of Islam
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Napoleon
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More on Quran memorisation:
SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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