Kolkata, Apr 28: After a nightmarish start to their Indian Premier League campaign, Mumbai Indians have an uphill climb with injured skipper Sachin Tendulkar still doubtful for the game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens here tomorrow.

The Mumbai franchise, the most expensive in the eight-team league, is in dire straits after losing the four matches they have played so far. The only team yet to open their points kitty, the Reliance Industries-owned side brings up the rear of the table.

Their stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth after going down to the latter's Kings XI Punjab has given the side additional negative publicity, and the visitors badly need a win to leave behind the unsavoury episode.

While the subsequent 11-match ban on Harbhajan has taken the sting out of their spin bowling arsenal, the unavailability of icon Tendulkar is posing a lot of problems in the batting department.

None of the willowers have cracked a half-century, and the form of Sri Lankan veteran Sanath Jayasuriya and fellow opener Luke Ronchi is a major cause for concern, though young gun Robin Uthappa and Mumbai left-hander Abhishek Nayar have played a couple of decent knocks.

Kolkata Knight Riders learnt a lesson in Chepauk losing by nine wickets to M S Dhoni's Chennai side after first two emphatic victories over Banglaore and Hyderabad on April 18 and 20 respectively.

Ganguly and his boys returned yesterday and already had a round of strategic talks with coach John Buchanan on how to get back into the winning combination.

All overseas players- West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Australian Brad Hodge, Pakistan's Salman Butt and Omer Gul- have arrived and are eager to play.

Already four foreigners- Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, David Hussey and Mohammed Hafeez- are in the first eleven. IPL rules say only four overseas players can play for a side.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who returns home after tomorrow's play, had scored only 20 runs in the first match and no runs in the subsequent plays. New Zealander McCulllum would also go back like Ponting as they have to play for their country in next month.