Six games. One win. Two points.

With such a situation, as the Mumbai Indians approach midway through the league stage of the Indian Premier League, some would give the 2013 champions no chance of making it to the Playoffs. But the Paltan knows that Mumbai Indians can never be out of contention till the last game is played.

That is precisely why the Paltan would be hoping for the Mumbai Indian’s comeback to start against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai on Saturday. And as they prepare to take on David Warner’s Orange Army, Mumbai Indians will hope to do an encore of last year.

During the seventh edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians returned from the UAE without any points from their five games. But Rohit Sharma’s comrades won seven of the remaining nine league games to ensure a Playoffs berth for themselves.

Come Saturday, and the team would find itself in a similar situation. Having won just a solitary game from their first six games, they require winning at least six of the remaining eight games to give themselves a chance of making the cut into the last four. While they draw the inspiration from the last season’s campaign, head coach Ricky Ponting’s wards would know that time is running out for them.

To add to their concerns, Mumbai Indians have been plagued by the unavailability of some of their premier overseas cricketers. Australian pace bowler Josh Hazlewood couldn’t join the team for the season, while Aaron Finch and Corey Anderson are all but ruled out from the remaining season, due to injuries to their hamstring and finger, respectively.

This situation is identical to Mumbai Indian’s 2011 Champions League Twenty20 campaign when they won their first title despite the unavailability of some of their premium players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit.

The Mumbai Indians till now haven’t really clicked as a cohesive unit. And Rohit’s men would know that a winning spree like last year’s will not be possible unless they start delivering as a team. The batting department has looked more solid amongst the two main departments. Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have dazzled with the bat but lack of a solid opening partnership has been one of their main concerns.

Mumbai Indians might well be tempted to open the innings with Rohit, who had scored an unbeaten 98 in their season-opener at the top of the order but, has moved down the order since then. While Unmukt Chand’s coming good with the willow is a positive, Mumbai Indians are still waiting for Ambati Rayudu to get into his elements.

The other concern for Mumbai Indians has been the inability to pick up wickets consistently, which has hurt them badly so far. In the six league games, Mumbai Indian have been able to pick only 26 wickets. They would be hoping for Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga to start foxing the opposition batsmen more regularly, in order to restrict the run flow.

If the veteran bowlers can see the back of Sunrisers opening duo of captain Warner and Shikhar Dhawan early on Saturday, it would give the much-needed boost to the team’s campaign. With the Wankhede Stadium set to be painted in Blue with the stands being filled with school children who have benefitted from the Reliance Industries Ltd’s ‘Education for All’ initiative, there would be no shortage of support from the stands.