'MI showed great character to drag match into final over'

Kieron Pollard traps Steven Smith leg before wicket and breaks into celebration

IMAGE: Kieron Pollard traps Steven Smith leg before wicket and breaks into celebration. Photograph: BCCI

After suffering a six-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians all-rounder Jayant Yadav said that his side showed a lot of character to drag the match into the final over.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra spun a web over Mumbai Indians before Shikhar Dhawan and Steve Smith played knocks of 45 and 33 respectively as Delhi Capitals registered a win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

Mishra had picked four wickets to help Delhi Capitals restrict Mumbai Indians to 137/9. Delhi Capitals needed 15 runs in the last two overs and Shimron Hetmyer and Lalit Yadav ensured the side didn't falter at the end. Moreover, Jasprit Bumrah's two no-balls in the penultimate over made the job a lot easier for the batsmen.

"It was a tough wicket, we were 10-15 runs short of the par score, there was a lot of dew and we showed a lot of character to drag the match to the last over. I think IPL is a tournament where you need to be on your toes, there is a squad of 25 players but at the end of the day, only 11 come to the field. You have to buy into what the captain and management want from you. As I said, IPL is a long tournament and you have to prepare accordingly," said Jayant during a virtual press conference.

When asked how difficult it is to bowl with the wet ball, Jayant said: "I think it's not up to us to change the ball. We can tell the umpires that the ball is wet and it is up to them whether they want to change the ball or not. Umpires need to see whether the ball is wet or not. In the match against Delhi, it did get quite wet. One ball was in continuous use for a long time so that's why it was very wet."

Mumbai Indians were cruising towards a mammoth total having scored 55 runs in the first six overs but Mishra wreaked havoc and dismantled the batting order removing Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Ishan Kishan.

Jayant also said that as professional players, everyone now needs to adjust to the bubble life as it is the need of the hour.

"Bubble life is something we need to get used to as professionals given the current situation of the pandemic. Our management has made bubble taking players into consideration, we have families around and we have them to give us company, at the end of the day we are professionals, big thanks to BCCI that the tournament is going on," said Jayant.