'I have got the feeling that there are real good performances round the corner'
It's been a nightmarish start for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing eighth edition of the Indian Premier League. The Rohit Sharma-led franchise is yet to taste victory after three outings in the cash-rich T20 extravaganza.
Winners in 2013, Mumbai Indians suffered a seven-wicket loss to defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener. It was followed by an 18-run defeat to Kings XI Punjab at home before they were outclassed by Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Ahmedabad.
Ricky Ponting, Mumbai’s head coach, says the team hasn’t been able to sustain the momentum for the full length of a match, doing well in only patches.
“I think we have been lacking a bit of confidence as a group. We obviously haven't gotten off to a great start so far in the tournament. If you look at our last few games there have been glimpses of some really good cricket and we have to make sure we do that for the full 40 overs and not just 25 or 30 overs, like we have been doing in the last couple of games,” said Ponting, on Wednesday, at Reliance Foundation’s Education for All (EFA) event in Mumbai.
Around 50 underprivileged children from seven NGOs around Mumbai got an unique opportunity to play cricket with their favourite Mumbai Indians stars during the event.
Captain Rohit Sharma is hoping the team will take inspiration from their showing last year when they bounced back after five straight defeats at the start of IPL 7 and made it to the play-offs.
“Last year we were also in a similar situation but we were able to bounce back, so I think it is a confidence thing. We will play a home game against Chennai Super Kings next and it will be important to forget what happened in the past. We have to just take positives from the previous games and move ahead,” he said.
Mumbai are desperate to break their run of defeats and log their first points in IPL 8 when they take on Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Friday April 17.
Rohit pointed out that things haven’t panned out in the middle as per plans and his players need to improve in both batting and bowling in rest of their games.
“We were not able to do some things as per plans and we are working on it. We have to cross the hurdle and we have not been able to do it. We have fallen short. May be it is our bowling or our batting. Our preparations have been quite good but we have not been able to execute our plans in the matches,” he said.
His own failure with the bat has also affected the team. He was out without scoring in his last two matches after starting the tournament with a splendid knock of 98 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
With the middle order struggling in the first two games, Rohit dropped himself to No. 4 in the batting order against Rajasthan after opening in the first two games.
“There is no reason (behind the move). It is pretty simple; it is to get the right combination and get the right balance of the squad,” he explained.
Despite the defeats, Ponting did see some encouraging signs from the team’s showing thus far.
“I have got the feeling that there are real good performances round the corner. It is up to the group to make sure we work really hard at our training tomorrow. We know that we play a very good Chennai Super Kings outfit in a couple of days’ time, so we have to be at our absolute best to try and win that game,” he said.