Defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mahela Jayawardene claimed that they are not seeing as a favourite but they are equally good as the other participating teams. On the other hand, skipper Rohit Sharma has shown his confidence on the squad.
The IPL 2018 will begin on this Saturday. Mumbai Indians has the record number of IPL trophy (3 times winners) after winning that in the last season (IPL 2017). They will play the opening game of IPL 2018 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the home venue Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai).
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Jayawardene recently said that many teams are looking good after they invested in new players. The former Sri Lankan captain also claimed that the Mumbai franchise has no favourite tag for this season but they are equally good as others.
On Thursday, he said in the press conference, “Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab have all gone in for new players and they look good. We all have to start from scratch and take it one game at a time. I do not see ourselves as favourites but at the same time we are equally good as other teams and will try to do one better than the opposition.”
While Mumbai Indians will not get the service of their most experienced pacer Lasith Malinga as a pace bowler (however, he is presenting as the bowling mentor of the team), Jayawardene said that they have enough good pacers.
He said, “Bums (Bumrah) doesn’t understand the word pressure, he does the role assigned to him very well. This time he has experienced players to support him with the likes of Fizz, McClenaghan and Cummins. Hardik is also a much-improved bowler, so I don’t think we have much to worry.”
In this season, there are few new things have been introduced for the first time in IPL and some of these are Mid-season trading, DRS etc.
Jayawardene spoke out on that, “Mid-season trading is something we will have to keep an eye on, it’s a good opportunity and its something new. DRS has been around international cricket for some time, so its certainly good to see it in the IPL, it will reduce the errors and at the same time give a chance to younger players to know how to go about handling it in the future.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is also confident with the squad as he claimed that they are not worried about the opposition. He quoted, “Mumbai have always been a good team, we are not worried about the opposition. We have what it takes to win the tournament and all are bases covered. We will take only one game at a time and not worry about the final.”
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Rohit also praised all-rounder Krunal Pandya and the other spinners for their contributions. The Indian limited-overs vice-captain spoke on them, “Spinners have always played a crucial role for us. They have given us breakthroughs and changed the momentum of innings. We have some great talent, I just hope they deliver for us as they have for their clubs. Krunal hasn’t played much cricket off late but he was looking good in the practice. He knows his role and I am hopeful he can deliver for us.”
