Two of Mumbai Indians’ four defeats in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 came by 12 runs, meaning only two sixes were the difference between winning and losing for the five-time champions. Fast-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar admitted the side hasn’t yet peaked as a unit, and felt a collective strong performance will lead them to a big victory. In IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians have stood up to their reputation of being slow starters, winning just one out of five games so far and being in eighth place in the points table. The Hardik Pandya-led side will be aiming to get their campaign back on track if they manage to stop Delhi Capitals’ (DC) unbeaten run at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday evening.

“Look, it’s been a long time, and I have gone from one big franchise to another (CSK to MI), so I think there are a lot of similarities because the mindset is the same, which is to win matches. Plus, when one or two matches are up and down, you don’t have to panic; you always have to believe that you can win the tournament in any situation.”

“I think there are similarities, and that’s why both teams did well in IPL, because you have to believe in yourself. IPL is a big tournament, where you can win or lose a few matches. So it’s important to come back after that, and the tournament has just started, some teams are doing well, while some are average.”

“But we have played well in the last five matches – it’s just that we lost due to one or two hits. It’s not like we have lost by big margins, or any bowler or batter is totally out of form. Every batter has made runs, every bowler has bowled well, so there are a lot of individual performances in the last five matches.”

“But if there is a collective performance, and if we do well together, then we would have won the match with a big margin, which shows the potential of our team. It’s the same thing, as luck-based things happen in sports because, in the last match, our shots were up and down.”

“For example, if it had gone for six, then we would have won the match. In the last match, we lost by two hits, so I think we played well, and the results will definitely come. But as a team, we are in good shape, and we will move forward in a good way,” said Chahar in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

In their 12-run loss to RCB, MI had a big thing to cheer up when Jasprit Bumrah marked his return to competitive cricket after five months with a tidy spell of 0-29 in his four overs. Chahar, who himself dealt with a lot of injuries in the last three years, lauded Bumrah for being at his best after a long layoff, adding that his execution of a yorker at the Wankhede Stadium was all class.

“He’s very strong-headed. Like you saw in the first match, the way he bowled after five months, you can see the class. It has a huge impact, if it wasn’t for Bumrah, we would have scored 20-25 runs extra. So I think that game was made to a certain extent because of Bumrah’s bowling.”

“As a bowler, I know how difficult it is to bowl in your first match after so long. It’s because when you come after not having played any cricket for three months, the most difficult ball to execute is a yorker. You can bowl a good-length ball or a bouncer. But to bowl a yorker, you need that confidence in your skill. But right from his first match, he bowled the yorker, and that flow while executing it shows how good a bowler he is,” he added.

Eyebrows were raised when Bumrah didn’t take up the new ball, but Chahar felt it had to do with the side’s leadership group decisions. “Everyone has the experience to bowl with a new ball. So, the team decides sometimes, depending on the match-up.”

“If a particular bowler has taken out a particular batter for a long time, then he will be the first one to whom the ball will be thrown. So, this is the strategy of the team as to who will bowl with the new ball in which match. But I think the captain and the coach have decided. So it is possible that someone else will bowl in the next match.”

It’s also been a season where MI have unearthed gems like leg-spinner Vignesh Puthur and left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar, all thanks to their scouting team’s relentless work in the off-season. Chahar signed off by applauding the scouting team’s stellar work, adding that he’s enjoyed being around youngsters in the team.

“Mumbai has always been like this from the start. Mumbai eventually built a good team every year, because they take good domestic players. The scouting team is very good, and throughout the year, they put up camps, matches, and send scouts.”

“You see there are so many big names in the Indian team who have come from Mumbai’s scouting team, like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, and many more players who Mumbai has bought in the baseline, which means no other franchise knew about them, and they made them such big superstars today.”

“So it’s MI’s specialty that they unearth good players like they spot real diamonds amongst stones. Over the last 10 years, after IPL started, they have created this background, and it’s fun to play with the youngsters as you get to learn a lot from them. Also, because every individual is different, they bring something different to this team,” he concluded.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)