Mumbai Indians’ coach Mahela Jayawardene talks about Bravo and leggie Markande

The former Sri Lanka batsman reveals the time the Mumbai Indians signed the young Markande.

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Mahela Jayawardene
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Mahela Jayawardene. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Defending champions Mumbai Indians took on their rivals Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of Indian Premier League 2018, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, their start to the tournament was not the way they would have liked, as they lost the game narrowly due to Dwayne Bravo’s scintillating innings for the opponent team.

However, despite the loss, the coach of the Mumbai franchise Mahela Jayawardene is happy with the team’s performance. The Sri Lankan feels that Mumbai looked the favourites until the 17th over of the game, after which Bravo snatched it away from them.

T20 cricket – a batsman’s game?

“I’m not surprised by Bravo. I thought we bowled well up until the last three overs. If a batsman gets into the rhythm in T20 cricket, it is difficult to stop him,” said Jayawardene after the game.

The standout performer for Mumbai was young leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who was a little-known performer before the game. The 20-year-old claimed three wickets including that of MS Dhoni, and almost no batsman was being able to read him.

“When we saw him at the camp, we knew he was special. We backed our youngsters and he bowled really well. He has accuracy, variations, and a great attitude. You definitely need experience, but you also need the energy of the youngsters,” the coach added.

Mumbai Indians are one of the most successful sides in the tournament with three titles, while KKR and CSK have two titles each. This year, Mumbai’s core is almost intact, and the squad as a whole is balanced. They have four-star all-rounders, a couple of good pacers and spinners and a strong batting department with the likes of captain Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and the others.

With the tournament spanning for almost two months, the loss in the opening game will hardly matter to the Ambani-owned franchise, but to have lost to their rivals CSK is what they would not like to remember.

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