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MI coach Mahela Jayawardene doesn't expect better pitch, commends highly-talented SRH side

Mayank Kumar

The head coach of the Mumbai Indians, Mahela Jayawardene has spoken very highly of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team ahead of the clash between the two teams on April 17 in Chennai.

Jayawardene called the Sunrisers a very stable team that knows their strengths and weakness. Also, he commended talented players in the Sunrisers camp for helping the team qualify for the playoffs almost ‘every year.’

“SRH is a team that always qualifies for the playoffs. they have a very very good record. Very competitive team. Knows exactly what their strengths are, and they challenge any team on those strengths. Very talented individuals in there in their squad, in their team,” Jayawardene said in a video previewing the upcoming game against the Sunrisers released by the franchise on its Twitter timeline.

Jayawardene especially rated both the bowling attacks very highly before the men in blue and orange will go head to head in the ninth game of the 14th edition of the IPL. 

He said that teams that have bowling attack capable of picking regular wickets will have the upper hand and that has been a crucial factor for the Sunrisers over the last many years in IPL.

“Both teams do have some quality bowling and that is where the advantage lies in any team in this format when you have bowlers who can pick up wickets and SRH has been doing that for many years. So, I think on a wicket which is going to assist it will be a very interesting battle,” Jayawardene added.

The pitches in the previous games at the MA Chidambaram Stadium have been slower and lower in nature and Jayawardene said he is not hoping for any better conditions on Saturday night.

However, he did not overlook the contribution of bowlers and lauded them for making good use of the conditions. Jayawardene was upbeat and said that as a team Mumbai would be looking forward to countering different types of threats from different oppositions in the IPL this year.

“The wickets, I don’t think it will improve. It will be the same. Obviously, the average score has come down a notch but it has to do with the bowlers as well. Different opposition will pose different threats and that’s something we need to look at. But at the same time, I think it’s about execution out there in the field,” Jayawardene gave his assessment.

Jayawardene was very happy at his players pulling their sock up in a tough game against the Knight Riders where the coach himself conceded that they were not in the game for the first 10 overs.

But, he said that pulling off a win from those situations will work wonders for the confidence of players going ahead in the tournament. 

He also said that the win achieved very early in the journey is quite crucial for the seamless progression of the team in a two-month-long tournament which he said will have a lot of close games with teams spending a lot of time and playing a majority of matches at common venues.

“I think this season most of the games will be very closely fought. All teams are quite strong and everyone is playing in conditions which they have to get used to,” he said.

“Having not played the best cricket in the first half of the KKR game for the guys to come back. Even after 10 overs where they were not in the game was very good for the confidence of the players especially to the team to start the tournament. Getting points on the board early is quite crucial.” 

Jayawardene would be hoping for better outings for the batsmen after subdued performances in the last two games as they handed two five-wicket hauls in both the game against them this season.

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