Mumbai Indians head coach says his hitters have adapted well to the challenge of playing on slow wickets in Chennai
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene says his hitters have adapted well to the challenge of playing on slow wickets in Chennai, but there are areas where the team could ‘improve further’ , referring to intermediate hitters in particular in their precedents. game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After successfully defending 152 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Mumbai bowlers were once again adept in their 150 defense against the Sunrisers. Legspinner Rahul Chahar turned the game around again with contributions from Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, as Sunrisers went from 71 to 1 to 137 in the chase. But in either case, the Mumbai stick never reached top speed, especially in the mid-overs where they slowed down considerably after getting off to a strong power play start. Against the Sunrisers, Rohit Sharma’s efforts took them to 53-0 on the power play, but Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Vijay Shankar applied the squeeze afterwards, meaning their run rate never went down. crossed 7.50 after the tenth.
“The last game was probably a bit off for us, but the previous two games I think our pace was really good,” said Jayawardene. “Overall we are very happy but knowing Rohit he will keep pushing guys. If we haven’t achieved those goals he will talk about it and want us to improve. I think the last game we have to consider that we were up to it … against two quality spinners in Rashid and Mujeeb, especially in the mid-overs, and at the same time we lost a few wickets.
“You’re not going to have the same breakfast every day, are you? So if we keep having the same, it’s pretty easy for the opposition to plan against us. try to change depending on the opposition, on the conditions “
Mahela jayawardene
“I think given all of that we have handled the situation better to put it in place in the last two overs and get the score indicated. We are still trying to achieve the score indicated on the same day at that wicket would be a good one score. There are areas we could improve on, but pretty happy with the way things are going. “
Bowlers Sunrisers on Saturday exploited the sluggishness of the surface, conceding only one limit between passes from ten to 16. It was once again incumbent on Mumbai to bring them back to a competitive total, just as they did. had done against the Cavaliers. After the game, Sharma had also said they could do better in the mid-overs, but was aware that hitting the site was not easy, especially against the spinners. “I thought we had a good score for this field,” Sharma told Star Sports. “That said, we can do better in the mid-overs. The pitch is getting slower and slower, the bowlers are still in the game until 20 overs. Even the dressmakers, it’s not easy to escape them and the slow nature makes things more difficult. for the slog hitter right away.
“Yes the wickets are slightly slower but still see scores of 150-160, the other day we saw 200,” Jayawardene said. “On any given day, depending on the opposition, the way you approach may have this different variable. They are not unplayable wickets. They are good competitive wickets and adapting to those challenges is always the key to everything. drummer. I think we’ve been consistent with It was a tough approach, but we’ve adapted quite well. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes and that’s part of the game. “
That day, Mumbai also sent Kieron Pollard to bat at No.5, ahead of Hardik Pandya – a move that paid off – as he exploded an unbeaten 22-ball 35. Jayawardene put the move down just right to tactics, adding that they also wanted Pollard to have more time in the middle.
“You’re not going to have the same breakfast every day, are you? So if we keep having the same, it’s pretty easy for the opposition to plan against us. try to change depending on the opposition, on the conditions.
“Especially in this kind of competition, we have to let everyone guess what we’re going to do. That was the process. Obviously, Polly [Pollard] had a little more time at the start of the season, which we could give him in the first games. We have a very versatile line-up where guys can hit depending on the situation. They understand that we are going to use this. “
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo