One of Mumbai Indians’ biggest regrets would be letting Hardik Pandya go. Pandya has led debutants Gujarat Titans splendidly, to say the least.
As MI’s former all-rounder leads his troops against Rohit Sharma’s men for the first time in this IPL at the Brabourne Stadium today, there will be a ring of nostalgia in the scenario as well.
Emotions apart, table-toppers Gujarat Titans would like to get back to their winnings ways after suffering an eight-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their last match. As far as Mumbai Indians are concerned, although they don’t stand a chance of qualifying for the knockouts, Rohit & Co would look to register their second win on the trot.
MI coach Mahela Jayawardene
Jaya unhappy with 4-day gap
However, MI coach Mahela Jayawardene is not happy with the four-day gap between their last game against Rajasthan Royals and this, which could hamper their winning momentum. “It was good to see that we managed to execute skills and at the same time, finish the game off,” Jayawardene said at the pre-match virtual press conference on Thursday. “Unfortunately, we had to wait for another four days before we could play another game,” he added.
MI skipper Rohit’s poor run with the willow (155 in nine games) has been a major factor that has affected their campaign and Jayawardene did not shy away from expressing his disappointment. “Let me answer that in a much fairer way. Yes, as you [journalist] rightly said Ro [Rohit’s nickname] has been brilliant in batting for long periods, getting those big scores consistently and the rest of the guys have batted around him. He knows he [has] had starts and hasn’t been able to convert them into big scores and that has been a disappointment,” Jayawardene remarked.
‘Unfair to blame Bumrah’
MI’s other big weapon, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has not succeeded in getting breakthroughs (five wickets at an economy rate of 7.45). The other bowlers too have failed to apply the pressure that he often created. Jayawardene, however, defended his eminent pacer. “It is unfair to point fingers at Booms because his role has been to create pressure. You can say he hasn’t picked up wickets, but teams play the entire bowling unit and not just one bowler. So they [the opposition] made sure that they don’t take too many risks against Booms. Therefore, he hasn’t been able to create opportunities,” said the Lankan legend.
Jayawardene’s eye for detail was, however, not missed during the interaction. The coach noticed that MI leaked too many runs in the last two overs in too many games and that has proved decisive. “It is one of those seasons where we haven’t been able to control the situations. If you take four-five games, where we have bowled brilliantly for 18 overs and we’ve had two big overs. One 20-run over pretty much in every game…and that has cost us at least four to five games,” he signed off.
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