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“Early wicket of Shubman was a massive one” – Jayawardene

By Mumbai Indians

Paltan, HOW’S THE JOSH? Super high, isn’t it?

A victory that simply personified our #PlayLikeMumbai mindset. 🤩 Put up a mammoth total and bowl like absolute champions in tense situations to defend it.

…And the collective team performance simply delighted our Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene, who appeared in the post-match press conference to speak about the game, beginning with the decision to bat first.

“We felt that batting first against GT is the right call. We played tactically. The way we batted, the tempo was great and we put runs on the board. The early wicket of Shubman was a massive one. Everything was going to plan, but halfway through, I saw the due coming in.

“We couldn't get our grip. Planning-wise, we changed our plans to bowl yorkers as much as we could because the length balls were skidding through. The variations were not happening. I think it was a tough last 10 overs for us, but the experienced heads held together & we executed brilliantly,” said Mahela.

On winning games time and again from tense situations, MJ stated that the winning mentality and the attitude in the squad speak volumes in the outcome of the matches.

“When you have a winning culture, it's easier to try & have that same thing going through. We have a very experienced core group within our ranks. That winning mentality itself comes through from those senior players.

“Players who have won trophies do help. My job is to try & cultivate the new guys who are coming into the squad. After the big auction, we had quite a few new faces. I think telling them about how we operate and having that attitude that we’ll never die from a situation always works,” said our Head Coach.

Furthermore, Mahela spoke highly of openers Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow and Ashwani Kumar, who starred in their respective roles to guide the side to a splendid win.

“RO batted brilliantly. I think he took his time a little bit, letting Jonny take control initially. And then when he knew it was his time, he got into a brilliant tempo. The pressure that he put on Sai [Kishore] and Rashid [Khan] in that situation was absolutely brilliant.

“In big games, he does have a different gear that he plays. That's what experience does and you cannot replace that,” said Jayawardene, praising the opening act.

“Ashwini is a great talent. I think the first season itself, the way he has responded to the challenges that we put him through, he's done brilliantly. BOOM, Deepak, Hardik, all those guys have those chats. It's all about execution under pressure and what we've seen from him. We plan to use him tactically when we need to against a given opposition.

“And, what you see is, not the full Ashwani. There's much more to come from him. And he's a fabulously skilled bowler. We just need to keep grooming him in the right direction,” said MJ, applauding the youngster’s impact.