Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that he wanted Suryakumar Yadav to play his natural game against Punjab Kings and it was 'a tactical thing' to drop him down the batting order.
Brilliant half-centuries by Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan were backed by courageous bowling performance as Punjab Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in their IPL 2022 match at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Wednesday.
"Today was to try and take the game deep because we were playing with six batters. And there's no better person than Surya to finish a game off. And in that situation, in the powerplay, they would swing the ball a bit and all that. So I didn't want Surya to go into that situation and not be able to play his natural game also. It was just a tactical thing," said Mahela Jayawardene at a press conference.
"The two young guys, we know what they are capable of. So given them a bit of freedom to go and control that situation, so that Polly and Surya are able to chase that. That was the initial thinking. It's a call that we will take depending on how we've set up tactically against certain oppositions and stuff like that," he added.
MI skipper Rohit Sharma played a good innings of 28 runs off 17 balls and provided his side with a good start.
"If you look at the way he starts, the way he hits the ball, it's brilliant. He's timing it, he's getting some really, really good starts. Yes, he's disappointed as well that he's not being able to convert them. We've seen Ro batting deep, batting for 14-15 overs and getting those big scores. It's just a matter of time. He's a quality player and I am not concerned about the form as such," he added.
Mayank played an innings of 52 while Shikhar Dhawan smashed 70 runs as the opening duo stitched a 97-run partnership for the first wicket to guide PBKS to a defendable target of 198/5. For MI, Basil Thampi scalped two wickets while star pacer of team Jasprit Bumrah took one wicket.
This is Mumbai Indians' fifth successive loss in the Indian Premier League 2022 while for Punjab this is their third win of the season.
( With inputs from ANI )
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