Harbhajan Singh was left out for tactical reasons says Mahela Jayawardene

Mumbai Indians lost their first game for the fifth season in a row and they have failed again to get the start they wanted to. It has been a habit of Mumbai Indians to get off to the worst start possible and then fight back and get into the precious top four. It has been their path for the last five seasons and it is how they have won the league twice.

The new coach of the Mumbai Indians Mahela Jayawardene wanted to stamp his authority on the tournament with a win but things didn’t go too well for him and the legacy of bad starts for Mumbai continued. “Yes, it has been highlighted that we’ve had situations where we have not had good starts. It’s something that I definitely wanted to change and that was my mindset going into the first game as well, with a very positive and attacking mindset. But this is what T20 cricket is about.”

The Mumbai Indians team saw a different combination of players in the starting lineup for the game against Rising Pune Supergiant. The omnipresent Harbhajan Singh was absent from the eleven and Mahela Jayawardene said that it was purely tactical to drop him.

Jayawardene said, “We have a quality group of players and we need to be smart about how we use them against opposition. I thought we played a very good game given the fact that what they had to offer. But definitely (Harbhajan was) not dropped in the way that you want me to say it. Just that it was a tactical decision.”

The game was in the balance until Smith hit that six that won the game. The ball was not coming onto the bat quite well and MS Dhoni was struggling. But Smith having been there for most of the time was timing the ball well.

Jayawardene thinks that they got the things right tactically just they lost the game in the execution part of the things. “Given that it was a green wicket and that they had 2 leg-spinners, one of whom went for runs and just one took wickets off pretty straight balls. I think we were in the game, tactically we got it right. We thought 184 was quite a high score on that venue. They batted really well to get that,” said the former Sri Lankan captain while talking to the press.”

They face the wrath of Kolkata Knight Riders next and they are on fire. After winning the first game with utmost ease they will look to decimate the men in blue but Mumbai will be wary of the opposition and look to get back to winning ways.

Mahela said, “They’re a very good opposition. A very formidable unit and an experienced side. They know how to win matches, how to win championships. They showed yesterday how clinical they were against Gujarat (Lions). We have to be very mindful of that. But we have to play to our strengths and we’ve got a very good team. Just go out and execute our game plans and have a good game.”

The bowling lineup of the Mumbaikars has been bolstered by the arrival of Lasith Malinga. Asela Gunaratne, the recent Sri Lankan hero has also joined the mix. Both the players will train with the team according to Mahela Jayawardene. Ambati Rayadu has suffered a groin injury and was stretchered off during the first game.

Mahela revealed, “Malinga and Asit have arrived, they will train today. Rayudu has had a scan. He’s got a grade 1 small tear (in the groin). We’ll assess him after about 7-8 days. Then he’ll start some casual rehab training. We just want to monitor him on a weekly basis and see how best we could get him back in playing condition. For now, he’s going to be out for 10 days for sure.”