IPL 2021 | Matter of one game for Mumbai Indians to come back stronger, states Suryakumar Yadav

When the venues were announced for all teams, Mumbai and Chennai were the two sides mostly affected by the swap of venues. Chennai had to play on pacy wickets in Mumbai while the Indians had to play on spin-friendly wickets. The conditions in Mumbai and Chennai were starkly different to the makeup of these two sides. After five games at the venue, Mumbai only could come away with two wins on the board. 

Despite the second straight loss, Mumbai Indians’ batsman Suryakumar Yadav was left unfazed by the situation. Suryakumar, in fact, reiterated that it is just a matter of time and a game before Mumbai Indians would make a strong come back in the tournament.

“Conditions are different, Wankhede’s pitch and this pitch are different. But we practice on these kinds of wickets a lot. Just unable to come away with results. We have faced this situation before and have come back stronger. It is just a matter of time and one game before we can make a comeback,” Suryakumar said in the post-match press conference.

The Mumbaikar insisted that there should be no doubts over the calibre of any star in the franchise despite the terrible form. He also added that Mumbai will start the next phase really strong. 

“Everyone’s mindset and preparation has been good and spot-on. It is just a matter of time for us, everyone is there for each other, that’s we call it one family. We just have to go out and play the way we do in Mumbai. Just because things are not falling in place, we should not be doubting ourselves. We will start the next phase really strong and come back in the tournament.”

On the night, Mumbai shocked the world by sending Ishan Kishan at No.3, ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. However, the right-handed batsman revealed that it was a plan well-laid out in the dressing room. He reckoned that the plan was to maintain a left-right combination throughout, given that Punjab were playing two spinners bowling into the left-handers. 

“It was a collective decision from the management, if a left-hander gets out, Ishan walks in and if a right-hander gets out, I would have walked in. I was completely okay with it, we were just wanting to do what we planned. It is all about that confidence you carry into the game, everyone are hitting the ball really well in the nets and it is about going and expressing ourselves well.”

“We don’t want to think about what has happened in Chennai. When we reach Delhi, things would be completely different and Mumbai Indians would be a completely different side.”