We are taking it one game at a time, says Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardena

Mumbai Indians will play the in-form Delhi Daredevils away from home at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday. This encounter is a massive game in the context of Delhi’s place in the playoff. Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardena ahead of the fixture has talked about the plans his team would like to execute and also on how the tournament has allowed producing young talents.

The Mumbai Indians, are a major beneficiary of the young talents from the country with the Pandya brothers and Nitish Rana making up to the core of their team this season. While both Hardik and Krunal have put up allround performances Rana has been the talk of the town for his consistent knocks.

“It (IPL) has not stopped producing young talented cricketers for the Indian set up. The process has been much far and quicker compared to other countries,” said Jayawardene. “They get exposure through IPL having international cricketers come over here, so most of the guys have done well in the IPL to represent India,” he said ahead of MI’s match against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday.

He also appreciated and commended the way these talents have been sought after by the teams in the auction, also crediting Indian domestic cricket for the massive influx of talents into the larger pool.

“It obviously pays, but at the same it has got things to do with the way the Indian domestic structure has evolved in the last decade or so. When you go to the states you see facilities have come a long way in the last 10 years. It has also contributed,” said the Sri Lankan.

He also heaped praises on the Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma for his contribution to his team on the field with some incredible knocks for the side in the tournament.

“In Rohit’s case, he came back from a very serious injury. We wanted to make sure we get him on the park, he gets that feel of playing cricket. In the first few games we were careful about how he goes about. He has not played any competitive cricket and came for IPL.”

He has been a great leader for us, he has taken lots of responsibilities and different roles this year. “At number four, he has been brilliant. He has led the team the way we wanted and gradually he is getting better in the second half of the season,” Mahela said.

The coach ended the conversation saying that the team is looking forward to taking things one at a time and not dwell too much on the playoffs as early as now.

“Currently, we are concentrating on one game at a time. Just trying to make sure we get into good habits. We have Hyderabad to come (at Wankhede), then two more good games,” he added.

“Make sure we keep the ball in the right areas and see the areas where we need to improve. And make sure we are consistent in areas where we are doing really well. We have not really gone too far ahead of us. IPL is like that, you have to live in the moment rather than go beyond it.”

Jayawardene concluded saying that IPL is not that tournament where you can focus on the finals straightaway, as the turns and twists it has is incredible.