'Depends on the combination we put out' - Mahela Jayawardene on chances of Arjun Tendulkar's IPL debut

Mumbai Indians became the first team to be knocked out of IPL 2022 after eight losses in a row. Nonetheless, they went on to beat Rajasthan Royals last week to register the first points to their tally.

Kumar Kartikeya played his first game this season and went on to showcase his ability with the ball. Now, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene has hinted that another player might make his debut for the five-time champions. The player in the discussion being Arjun Tendulkar.

It is about putting the best guys in the park: Mahela Jayawardene

“Well, I think everyone in the squad is an option. We will see how things go. It is about match-ups and how we can win the matches and our priority is to make sure that we get the right match-ups”, said Jayawardene during a media conference.

“Every game is a confidence thing, we managed to get our first win and it is about stringing wins together and getting the confidence back. It is about putting the best guys in the park. If Arjun is one of them, then we will consider it, yes, but it all depends on the combination that we put out,” he added.

Arjun was roped in by the five-time winners for a sum of INR 30 lakh at the two-day mega auction in February. He has been warming the bench so far. Meanwhile, nothing has gone right for the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing season. Their batters and bowlers have been inconsistent and add to that the inexperience in the middle-order and it has meant that the team has failed to dominate this time around. MI did try out different team combinations but it did not yield any result.

MI would now be hoping to finish their campaign on a high from here on. They face the table-toppers Gujarat Titans at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on May 6.