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Tag: Shane Bond

  • We are still in competition: Mumbai bowling coach Shane Bond on play-off chances

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Defending champions Mumbai Indians are currently in the bottom half of the IPL points table after seven losses from 12 matches but their bowling coach Shane Bond on Saturday said they are “still in the competition”.

    The five-time champions could only manage a modest 129/8 which Delhi Capitals chased down for a four-wicket win.

    “We are playing okay, we know that we are playing nowhere near our best, but we are still in the competition,” Bond said.

    “We’ll see what happens. We only had fine wins, but if we can get two wins under our belt and a few results go our way,” he said.

    They next face Rajasthan Royals at the same venue in three days.

    “I don’t think the plan will change too much. We’ve got a couple of areas we need to tidy up. We know we’re still in the competition, even though we lost today.”

    Sent in to bat, Mumbai struggled in the middle overs, managing just 21 runs with the loss of three wickets in five overs.

    “We thought if we got a score around 145 it would probably be a winning total which probably proved to be right.”

    “Look, the bowlers gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game, but I think Delhi played well in the middle, they took some chances and we knew that it was going to get tougher.”

    Bond praised Surya Kumar Yadav who looked to have regained his touch with a 26-ball 33 before being dismissed by Axar Patel.

    “He (Surya) just played how he normally he plays. He’s hitting the ball beautifully in training. He was getting that fluency and looked like the way he played last season, it’s just unfortunate that he’s getting out.”

    Delhi left-arm spinner Patel, who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his 3/21, said the plan for him was to bowl full against Surya.

    “I was bowling according to the batsmen’s strengths. Surya was mostly playing sweep and over the cover shots. So I was bowling him full. I was not being predictable and that was the gameplan I had with Rishabh,” said Patel.

    Chasing a small target of 130, Delhi also kept losing wickets but Shreyas Iyer (33 not out) and Ravichandran Ashwin (20 not out) helped the side chase it down in 19.1 overs.

    “The wicket is a bit slow and the ball is stopping a bit, it’s not coming on to bat as you expect. It’s hard to play big shots here,” Patel said.

    “We just wanted to take it deep and it was about playing in singles and doubles.”

    “We have seen how Sharjah wicket has fared. It was once again a 130-135 wicket and we had to bat accordingly. The way Iyer and Ashwin finished was great for us,” he concluded.

  • With T20 WC in mind, Mumbai Indians not going to rush Hardik Pandya

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is “close to playing” but Mumbai Indians won’t rush him back as the franchise is also keeping in mind the needs of the Indian team while managing his workload, MI bowling coach Shane Bond said.

    Pandya, who has hardly bowled ever since returning to action after a back surgery last year, missed his second successive IPL game in the UAE leg but Bond asserted that the Baroda player was training well and hopefully will make a mark in the business end of the tournament.

    “Look, Hardik is training well, like Rohit. He is getting closer to playing. We are obviously balancing the needs of our team with the needs of Team India as well,” Bond said at the post-match press conference when asked about Hardik’s status.

    Mumbai Indians suffered a seven-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday in their IPL game.

    It was after their 20-run loss to Chennai Super Kings in the first game after resumption.

    “The one thing that this franchise does very well is look after its players with an eye on not only to try and win this competition but also on the T20 World Cup that’s following on,” said the former New Zealand speedster.

    “We are hopeful that Hardik will be back for the next match. As I said, he has trained today and trained pretty well by all counts.”

    Mumbai head coach Mahela Jayawardene had earlier said that Hardik was kept out of the IPL game against Chennai Super Kings as a precautionary measure as he had a little niggle.

    Bond backed the team management’s decision to not play Hardik in the first two matches.

    “We are obviously desperate to put him back out on the field. But like anything you have to balance everything up, you have to also consider what the player wants,” he said.

    “There’s also no point rushing him back to get injured to miss the rest of the tournament when we may have a chance to win it.

    “I think we are doing the right thing and hopeful (that) we will get him back shortly and he’ll have an impact on the back-end of the tournament and get us into the playoffs and hopefully win the tournament from there.” On Thursday, Mumbai Indians were restricted to sub-par 155 and Bond said that the defending champions were well short of the score.

  • Delhi Capitals very talented side, but our team matches strongly against theirs: Mumbai Indians’ Shane Bond

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond reckons Delhi Capitals is a really talented team and as a result, he believes the Rohit Sharma-led side needs to be at their best to come out on top when the two side clash on Tuesday.

    Mumbai Indians has played three games in the ongoing edition so far, managing to win two games just like DC. Delhi and Mumbai are currently placed at third and fourth places in the points table.

    “They are a team that is highly talented, last year they played outstanding cricket and have started the season well again, particularly with the bat. I think they all were particularly close games last year, we probably played some of our best cricket against Delhi. They certainly deserved their place in the final and have started off the season strongly once again. We take a lot of confidence, we know we are a team that matches strongly against them. We know the wicket is tricky but we we have got experience on it, hopefully that will hold us in good stead,” said Bond in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of Mumbai Indians.

    Delhi and Mumbai had played the final of last year’s IPL and it was Rohit Sharma’s team who came out on top. In all the four matches played last season, Mumbai managed to outclass Delhi.

    “We are always well planned and we have attacked their players in different ways and we will do the same. In the last couple of games, the teams have got good start against us, our spinners have done a brilliant job in the middle. Teams are scoring 20-25 runs of the last five overs which is a real credit to our bowlers. They are really clear about what they want to do,” said Bond.

    Delhi Capitals had last defeated Punjab Kings while Mumbai Indians outclassed SunRisers Hyderabad in their previous game in this year’s IPL.

    Delhi Capitals has played all its three games at Wankhede Stadium and the side would now play its next two games here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.