With every game from now on being a must-win situation that would put them back into the contention for play-offs, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has said this is not the time to experiment. With just two wins from 8 matches, the five-time champions are ninth in the points table and face Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on Saturday.
Thanks to injuries and in attempts to arrest the slide, Mumbai have so far used as many as 22 players in the first-half of the season. For a team, which has in the past relied on a settled squad, it has been a merry-go-round of sorts in search of a winning combination.
“It’s not the time for us to experiment,” Jayawardene said. “We’ve had issues with our injuries, and availability of players and all that. We’ve already played, I think, 20 players in the season. So we’ve not done that for many years. Our maximum has been 16, even with the impact where we’ve had 16 or 17 was our maximum. So due to those circumstances, we’ve anyway have gone to the bench, deeper into the bench. And these are quality players as well, especially our foreigners have been good quality options. So we kept on changing combinations to suit that as well. But for us, it’s about trusting that process of correcting and playing good cricket,” he added.
Despite stacking up huge totals on board, Mumbai Indians haven’t been able to close out games with the ball. And in matches where their bowlers kept the opponents in check, the batting unit hasn’t stepped up to chase the targets. Jayawardene said it is mostly to do with the lack of consistency.
“I think it’s just that we haven’t been consistent enough in phases where it’s crucial for us to be competitive in those phases. And we’ve lost our way. So that’s something that we keep saying, you know, let’s get this done, this done. And sometimes you get that done, and then there’s some other phase fails us. So it’s a catch 22 for everyone. So you just keep fighting and trusting the processes, trusting the skill, trusting the players, who’s given us success. And then keep fighting. I mean, that’s what we need to do. And that’s what we will do,” the former Sri Lanka captain said.
In a big boost, former captain Rohit Sharma batted at the nets in Chennai on Friday. Having suffered a hamstring injury, he has played only four matches and missing four. And Jayawardene said the medical team would take a call on his participation on Saturday. “It’s progressed well. He’s like working really hard to get back at it. So for us with the medical team, it’s on a daily basis. We see how he feels, how he pulls up the next day. So we’ll make a decision. We’ll see him practising today as well. So let’s see how he feels tomorrow and what the medical team will tell us,” Jayawardene said.
