Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene admitted the five-time champions were “not good enough” this season after their playoff hopes ended with a narrow two-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur on Sunday.
“It’s disappointing, we’ve had our opportunities, we were not good enough, we were not consistent enough with the ball, with the bat and that showed the margins,” Jayawardene said after the match.
“I think, you know, we were probably 2-3 wins away from being in the same group of contenders to get into that playoff, but we didn’t get those wins and today was another classic example that we were short,” he added.
The MI coach said injuries and niggles disrupted the side throughout the campaign and forced several changes to the playing XI.
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“What probably you guys didn’t know is we had a lot of injuries, a lot of niggles, guys getting injured, not available, some players were not there as well, so that was mostly forced changes,” he said.
“Tactically, we would have changed few, very few during the season. I would have loved to have our main core guys consistently being out there, but there’s no excuses,” the Sri Lankan added.
Jayawardene said the squad had enough quality but failed to execute consistently in crucial moments across the season.
“I think we had a quality squad, it’s just that like I said, we had to put our hand up and say that we were not good enough overall,” he said.
The former Sri Lanka captain also defended MI’s experienced core despite criticism over inconsistent performances from senior players.
“The commitment, the effort that they’re putting is unbelievable,” he said.
“The core group is quite valuable for us, you know, you can’t just keep changing. We went with the trust, the confidence that we have with them and then it is what it is.”
Jayawardene added that many of the players had entered the tournament after successful international campaigns, and there was little reason initially to doubt the group.
“There was no reason for us to say them because they came from the World Cup, and they had a really good World Cup, winning a World Cup and all that, so I think it just, as a unit, we haven’t been good enough.”
He also reserved special praise for Krunal Pandya, whose composed knock helped RCB complete the chase in difficult conditions.
“Yeah, I think Krunal used to play similar roles for us as well while he was in MI, so we know the experience that he brings into an IPL game, and he showed that,” Jayawardene said.
“Like I said, for me that was the innings in a chase, especially for someone to bat like that through with a very good tempo.”
The MI coach also explained the decision to hand the final over to Raj Bawa despite the pressure situation.
“All our bowlers were finished at that time; we didn’t have anyone left, any experienced bowler,” he said.
“Raj is a good decent bowler, I know you haven’t seen him much, but we know what he can do in practises, executing yorkers, the wide stuff and all that.”
MI next take on Punjab Kings in Dharamsala on Thursday.
