Defending champions Mumbai Indians say 'Been there, done that' after 'tough' start in Chennai

IPL 2021: Sanju Samson lauds team spirit for recovering after 10 wicket loss

Rajasthan Royals were brutally beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A 10 wicket loss after having scored 177 is something very difficult to gulp. But RR skipper Sanju Samson feels that his team has recovered from that jolt pretty quickly and is looking forward to their next meeting against Kolkata Knight Riders tonight. “In a long and gruelling tournament like the IPL, it is of primary importance to stay positive–and that’s exactly how we were by the time we got into the team bus. Even before we reached our hotel, some good music had already helped us leave the past behind,” Sanju wrote about the last game in his column for Hindustan Times. The Kerala man stressed the fact that his team is less worried about the Points Table and more about the health and well being of their players. “At this very early stage of the tournament, worrying about our position in the league does not achieve anything. But if you channel that same energy into the health and welfare of your team, it ends up achieving a lot,” he wrote. Talking about his leadership role and how it has affected his game and his behaviour as a team man, the 26-year-old wrote, “I was always a complete team player, but until last year there were enough reasons to stop myself from going up to someone after a loss and giving him advice and taking charge of the dressing room atmosphere.” “All that has changed this year with leadership. My responsibilities have been heightened–towards the players and their mindsets,” he added. He might be struggling in the tournament post his opening game hundred, but Samson believes that ‘Man-management’ during difficult times is key, and he is utilising all the learnings that he has had from his previous captains and coaches and also from Kumar Sangakkara, the current Royals coach to come back strong. “I have learned plenty from previous RR leaders, be it Rahul (Dravid) sir, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane or Paddy Upton. But I am learning more every day from a guy called Sanga, who is yet to lose his poise under pressure. In fact, we all have our dinner at one long table. These are small but important steps that go a long way in trying to improve the bio-bubble experience,” he said. Samson’s Royals now face Kolkata knight Riders in today’s clash at the Wankhede Stadium and the skipper believes that with individual performances (Shivam Dube and Ryan Parag) coming, the team can click together soon as well. “Now I can only hope that these individual performances are soon converted into match-winning performances. Until then, rest assured that we are keeping the faith,” Samson concluded.

It’s a matter of one good game: MI’s Suryakumar hopeful of middle-order bounceback

Mumbai Indians’ middle order has been in the firing line of the critics as in the first five games of the season, they have not been able to put any memorable performance so far. Forget about memorable, the top middle-order batsmen in Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard haven’t even able to put on their personal bests as yet. Suryakumar Yadav, who found form in the last game with a 27 ball 33 believes that it is just a matter of one game before the Mumbai middle order is back to firing all cylinders. “They have been working really hard in the nets, every day, every practice session, it is just a matter of one game, I feel, that we will be coming back into the games,” Surya said in a virtual press conference. The 30-year-old further went on to say that sometimes things might not click as is a feature of any sports, but that doesn’t mean that people are not putting in efforts. “Everyone is trying to take that responsibility in every game, it is just that it is not working, it happens in this sport, but I am sure they will come back really stronger,” he said. Stating that the conditions in Chennai were different and difficult to Mumbai’s strengths, Surya believed that the team will come back strong in the Delhi leg of the league. “Conditions are a little different here, but we are trying to play ourselves on such wickets in the practice. We have faced this situation before and come back really stronger, so I feel we will come back really stronger, we fire in one game and then there is no looking back,” he added. The Mumbai Indians after having completed their Chennai leg would move to Delhi to play their sixth game of the season when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 29.

The wickets are trash: Ben Stokes criticizes IPL tracks for low totals

England all-rounder Ben stokes feels that the low totals in this year’s Indian Premier League are not due to the lack of ability of the batsmen or extra brilliant bowling from the bowlers, rather due to very bad wickets being prepared, especially in Chennai. Raising his concern about how the low totals are affecting the mood of the competition, the New Zealand born said, “Hope the wickets don’t get worse as the @IPL gets deeper into the tournament..160/170 minimum not scraping to 130/140 cause the wickets are trash.” This tweet of the World Cup-winning all-rounder comes amidst a flurry of low total thrilling encounters witnessed at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The last game which saw Punjab kings take on the Mumbai Indians was also a low total affair where the team batting first could only manage to get up to 131 in the 20 overs. Hadn’t it been for a fighting partnership between Kings’ skipper KL Rahul and Universe Boss Chris Gayle, chasing down even 132 seemed like a herculean task at that wicket. Stokes, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a broken hand, is still with his team Rajasthan Royals in India. The Royals, who have been struggling in the tournament so far, today take on another bunch of strugglers in Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede in Mumbai.

Painful batting performance in WT20 year not ideal for Pak skipper Babar Azam

It was one of those days when Pakistan’s iconic batting collapses, that people have been so apt to seeing was on display as the men in green’s batting lineup made a meal of a simple chase of 119 in 20 overs to lose the game by a huge margin of 19 runs. Skipper Babar Azam who top-scored with 41 was distraught with the poor batting performance of the team. "It's a very painful performance. In South Africa, we had chased down 200; similarly here, we should have won this game comfortably,” Babar said in the post-match press conference. “But unfortunately, we played poor cricket and continued to struggle in the middle order,” he added. Saying that it was not one particular order of the batting that failed, rather the entire batting order was at fault, Babar promised to come back strong in the next game. "Today, it was not just the middle order but our batsmen right through couldn't perform the way we expect them to. It was a collective collapse and we lost as a group,” he said. Stressing on the fact that the World T20 was approaching, the 25-year-old said that the team cannot afford to lose focus like that. "As a professional, you adapt to every condition but I think we as openers didn't give a good start from the top and then our middle order was struggling to step up,” he said. “The World T20 is closing in and we have to sort this out as soon as possible. The next game we will come back and make a good combination," concluded the Lahore born. Having levelled the series now, a spirited Zimbabwe would come back to face the Babar led side one last time in the T20 series at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday for the decider.