News Analysis India

Tag: Mahela Jayawardene

  • IPL 2021: Will bowl soon, efforts are on, says all-rounder Hardik Pandya

    By ANI

    SHARJAH: Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya gave a positive update on his return to the bowling crease, saying he would do it soon.

    “Runs are important and especially when your team wins. It was important for my personal confidence but to score for the team was important. We have to assess the wicket and adapt on the given time. The plans have to be simple and win over obstacles ball-by-ball. There’s no option, but one thing is that these situations bring out the best in you. We realise it is a do-or-die game, but we are just focusing on the controllabes,” Hardik told host broadcaster Star Sports before the game against DC.

    Commenting on hitting the bowling crease, he said: “Aayega jaldi. Koshish poori hai (I will bowl soon. Efforts are on).”

    Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Friday had said Hardik might struggle with the bat if he pushes too hard to bowl in the ongoing IPL.

    Notably, ever since Hardik underwent back surgery, he has not been bowling regularly.

    “Because he hasn’t bowled since Sri Lanka, I think what we are trying to do is what’s best for Hardik going forward. We are talking to Indian management, and make sure sooner he feels comfortable, we get him into his bowling programme and prepare him,” said Jayawardene in a pre-match press conference on Friday. “(If Hardik can bowl in IPL) We have to look on a daily basis and evaluate and see how he progresses.”

    Delhi Capitals had last suffered a loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while Mumbai Indians registered a win over Punjab Kings in their respective previous games. Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals is at the second spot in the points table while Mumbai Indians is in sixth place.

  • Hardik Pandya might struggle if pushed to bowl, says Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene on Friday said the team is in no hurry to force Hardik Pandya into bowling in the IPL as the all-rounder might “struggle” if pushed hard, which could jeopardise his outing in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

    After missing the first two games in the second leg of the tournament, Hardik played for MI purely as a batsman.

    This has raised questions over his selection in India’s T20 World Cup squad, with the chairman of selectors saying that Hardik is fully fit to bowl in the marque event, starting October 17 in the UAE and Oman.

    But Jayawardene felt otherwise and said that the Mumbai franchise is in constant touch with the Indian team think tank regarding Hardik.

    “He (Hardik) hasn’t bowled for a long period of time, so we are just trying to do the best for Hardik. We are in constant touch with the Indian team management on Hardik’s case,” he told reporters during a virtual press conference ahead of the title holder’s next game against Delhi Capitals here on Saturday.

    “Whether he will bowl in the IPL or not we will look on a daily basis. I feel at the moment if we push him too hard, he might struggle.”

    Ever since his return from a back surgery that he underwent in 2019, Hardik hasn’t been bowling as much as he used to.

    However, he had bowled regularly during the five-match T20 series against England in March earlier this year before rolling his arm over once in the ensuing three-match ODI series as part of his workload management.

    But he didn’t bowl in the first leg of the IPL in India and continues to be unused in the UAE as well.

    Mumbai are enduring a nightmarish second leg, having won just one out of the four games here.

    The defending champions are currently out of the top four, placed fifth in the standings with 10 points from 11 games.

    The Rohit Sharma-led side would look to stay in the play-offs race after securing their first win in the second phase.

    “Getting the win under out belt was very important. We are as charged up as we were at the start of the tournament. We did a lot of good things in our last game but still a lot of improvements needed.

    “We will have to play our best cricket to make it to the top four,” Jayawardene said. 

    Batting has been a big letdown for the record five-time IPL champions with people like Suryakumar Yadav badly struggling with scores of 0, 8, 5, 3 in the UAE leg.

    “He (Surya) is a very important player for us but many cricketer goes through such phases including me. I understand his focus is good and it’s just about spending time on the middle,” the coach said.

    Jayawardene agreed that the surfaces this season in the UAE are quite different from last year and must have been prepared keeping the T20 World Cup in mind.

    “The surfaces are slightly different from last year. We are seeing extra bit of grass. Probably, it is done to protect the surfaces as the T20 World Cup is just three weeks away.

    “The T20 World Cup is a neutral tournament, an ICC event so they are just trying to get the best possible surfaces,” he said.

  • MI eye improved batting effort against rejuvenated KKR

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: Defending champions Mumbai Indians would look for inspiration from skipper Rohit Sharma, who is set to return to action when they take on a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

    Mumbai were without the services of Rohit and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya in their 20-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings on Sunday as both were rested as a precautionary measure due to having niggles.

    However, head coach Mahela Jayawardene has said Rohit should be fit and available for selection for the match against KKR.

    KKR, on the other hand, have registered a dominating nine-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening game of the second leg of the league.

    Mumbai, who are currently placed fourth in the table with eight points, began their second leg campaign in a typical slow manner but with only half the tournament left to play, the defending champions need to win to stay in the top half of the league table.

    Rohit, who has been in fine touch of late, will be expected to continue in the same vein and help his side make amends of the inept batting performance against CSK.

    Apart from Saurabh Tewary, who hit an unbeaten half century, none of the other batsmen were able to capitalize on their starts against CSK, failing to chase down 156.

    On the other hand, the comprehensive win would have boosted KKR’s confidence.

    Having struggled in the first leg, KKR looked a completely different unit, in the manner in which they defeated RCB.

    The Eoin Morgan-led side, placed sixth in the points table, fired on all cylinders with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and star all-rounder Andre Russell wreaking havoc with the ball before openers Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer chased down the 93-run target with 10 overs to spare.

    Skipper Morgan had said that KKR would be dangerous opponents with nothing to lose in the second leg and the team certainly looked menacing against RCB.

    They will hope to continue playing in a similar aggressive fashion and win the title just like 2014 edition when they notched nine victories in a row.

    They will also hold the edge over their rivals having already experienced the conditions at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium against RCB.

    The Teams

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathy, Shubman Gill, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pawan Negi, M Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Dube, Tim Southee, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russel, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert.

    Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain) Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Neesham, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh, Adam Milne, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult.

    Match starts at 7:30 pm IST.

  • Hardik missed out due to niggle, says Mumbai Indians head coach Jayawardene

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Star allrounder Hardik Pandya was kept out of the IPL game against Chennai Super Kings as a precautionary measure as he had a little niggle, said Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene.

    “Hardik was training, had a little niggle, so again precaution, we thought, lets just give him extra days to see how things are, but nothing serious,” the former Sri Lankan skipper said during a virtual press conference.

    MI skipper Rohit Sharma had also opted out of the match and Jayawardene said he should be available for the next match.

    “Rohit was batting and doing his running as well, but after coming back from the UK, we felt that, he probably needed an extra few days, so should be fine to play the next game,” he said.

    Mumbai didn’t have a good start to the resumption of the IPL as they lost the opening match by 20 runs and Jayawardene lamented that none of his batters took the responsibility to bat through the innings.

    Ruturaj Gaikwad hit an unbeaten 88 while Dwayne Bravo, batting at number eight, smashed 23 off just 8 balls as CSK made 156 for six after opting to bat first.

    The total proved to be more than enough as CSK restricted MI to 136 for 8.

    “We probably gave couple of soft dismissals.

    It just needed someone to take a bit more responsibility and bat through the innings, which we did not do and that was a difference with Ruturaj (Gaikwad) doing that for CSK,” Jayawardene said.

    “So, even though they (CSK) lost wickets, there was a set batsman, who went till the end. So, I think we’re disappointed, the way we handled the situation, the game awareness and the approach.”

    Chasing 156, MI slipped to 37 for three in the sixth over, before further slumping to 58 for four in the 10th over. Saurabh Tiwary (50 not out) was the top-scorer for MI but he didn’t get enough support.

    “Probably needed a bit more application of taking that responsibility and giving yourself a bit of time because we felt that the second half of each innings was much easier to bat,” Jayawardene said.

    “So, I put it down to game awareness and taking that kind of onuses, but not too concerned, because the guys (have) been hitting the ball pretty well, it is just the application out there in the middle, that is something we need to work on.”

    Mumbai did well in the Delhi-leg of the cash-rich tournament when the IPL was called off earlier this year due to outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

    Jayawardene admitted it is hard to create that kind of momentum again.

    “Yeah, I mean, not in our control. Obviously, we played a couple of very good games in Delhi but unfortunately the tournament had to stop and everyone went away, was playing a lot of different cricket in different parts of the world and then coming back together again and trying to create that kind of momentum is going to be harder.

    “We knew we need to be sharper, especially against the experienced Chennai team. But I think we probably competed that first 10 overs and probably another five overs in between in a 40-over game. So, I think when you’re playing an opposition like Chennai, if you’re not in the competition for that many overs, it’s always going to be tough,” he said.

  • Hardik Pandya isn’t bowling as he picked a niggle during last ODI against England: Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Monday revealed Hardik Pandya picked up a niggle during the ODI series between India and England which has kept the all-rounder away from bowling in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Hardik has in recent times stuck to playing as a finisher both in the national team and Mumbai Indians.

    Jayawardene wants Hardik to recover fully from the niggle before taking on the batsmen with ball in hand. “We were looking forward to him bowling this season as he didn’t bowl in last year’s IPL after coming from an injury and he wasn’t ready. In his last ODI match against England, I believe Hardik picked up a niggle so we don’t want to risk an injury,” Jayawardene explained.

    “We want to be sure that he is comfortable in bowling so hopefully in the next few weeks with a bit of work and all that you might see him bowling, we would love to see him bowling but as soon as the niggle goes off and he is comfortable in bowling we could utilise that asset as well,” he added.

    In the games, where Mumbai Indians pulled off victories from losing positions, spinner Rahul Chahar played a key role. He might have gone for 43 runs in his first match but the spinner returned with seven wickets in the next two.

    “Rahul Chahar has been performing well for us for the last 3 years. He is still a young player and is constantly learning. We are very happy with his progress,” said Jayawardene.

    Mumbai Indians will next lock horns with Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai on Tuesday.

  • Mumbai Indians has adapted pretty well to competitive Chennai wicket: Mahela Jayawardene

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene feels neutral venues in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 makes the tournament more exciting and interesting.

    Each team is playing at four venues in the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru are slated to host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each.

    One of the highlights of this edition of the IPL is the fact that all games are being played at neutral venues and no team will get to play at their home venue.

    Moreover, Chennai has witnessed some low-scoring thrillers. But Jayawardene reckons the wickets are not unplayable and one of the reasons that Mumbai Indians has faired well is because the team has adapted pretty well to the conditions.

    “Well I think it’s unfair to say that you need batting wickets in IPL, why is the tournament interesting is because every venue is different which makes it evenly contesting. Yes the wickets are slightly on the slower side but we have still seen scores of 150 or 160 in the last few matches,” said Jayawardene while replying to a query from ANI.

    “They are not unplayable wickets they are good competitive wickets. I think we have been consistent in our approach it is challenging but we have adapted pretty well. Sometimes we will make mistakes and that is part of the game.”

    “Every game is a challenge in Chennai because we are playing different teams and not just playing against CSK in Chennai, we are playing against different opposition, so we also have to adjust to different playing styles according to the teams,” Jayawardene opined.

    The likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard who don’t shy away from hammering the bowlers in any given situation are what makes Mumbai Indians a batting powerhouse and former Sri Lanka skipper feels his side can chase any target in the cash-rich league.

    “I am pretty confident that we can chase a target if we are asked to bowl first. We believe in that ability, it’s not just Chennai but in any conditions, it’s the same for us in Wankhede where it is easier to chase the totals down,” said Jayawardene.

    “We try and believe in ourselves that nothing is impossible but we can’t control the atmosphere or conditions. We can control our mindset and I know if we have to chase something down this the batting line up which can achieve the target,” he added.

    Mumbai Indians will next lock horns with Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai on Tuesday.