Core group quite valuable for MI, can’t just keep changing: Head coach Mahela Jayawardene

RAIPUR: Mumbai Indians’ playoff hopes came to an end after a narrow two-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Sunday, marking the fourth time in the last six seasons — after 2021, 2022 and 2024 — that the five-time champions have failed to progress beyond the league stage. The loss, their eighth in 11 matches this season, left head coach Mahela Jayawardene disappointed as he admitted that MI had not done enough across the campaign.

“It’s disappointing. We’ve had our opportunities. We were not good enough,” Jayawardene said at the post-match press conference. “We were not consistent enough with the ball, with the bat. That showed in the margins. We were probably two, three wins away from being in the same group of contenders to get into that playoff.”

He also brushed aside suggestions that frequent changes had hurt the team’s momentum, pointing instead to injuries and niggles that forced the management’s hand. “I don’t think it was chopping and changing,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries, a lot of niggles, guys getting injured, not available. Those were mostly forced changes.”

Asked if it was worthwhile to keep backing some underperforming senior players, Mahela said, “They’re also trying to do their best. The commitment, the effort that they’re putting in is unbelievable. With Ro (Rohit Sharma) getting injured and coming back and batting the way he batted, it sums up. The core group is quite valuable for us. You can’t just keep changing. We went with the trust, the confidence that we had with them.”

MI had RCB under pressure for long stretches and believed they could defend a target of 167 after Tilak Varma (57 off 42) and Naman Dhir (47 off 32) had lifted them to 166/7 despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 4/23. But Krunal Pandya’s 73 off 46 balls kept RCB in contention.

Reflecting on Krunal’s contribution, Jayawardene noted that he “used to play similar roles for us as well while he was in MI,” and highlighted the experience Krunal brings to an IPL game. He described Krunal’s performance as the defining innings in the chase, especially for maintaining a strong tempo throughout.

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MI were left to defend with limited options at the death and Jayawardene explained that the side had run out of experienced bowling resources. Even so, he felt the team was in the contest until the end. “All our experienced bowlers had bowled their quota at that time. We didn’t have anyone left,” he said. “I was pleased with the way we fought. It was a game of margins, probably should have executed a bit better at the end.”