The second IPL 2025 Qualifier game saw the Mumbai Indians (MI) face defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, June 1.
The Mumbai Indians head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, opened up on the loss. The Sri Lankan legend, while talking about the game, confessed that the five-time champions did not perform at their best and acknowledged that the Punjab Kings had played better cricket than them on the day. Mahela also went on to praise the Punjab Kings for the way they went about chasing a score of 200+ and mentioned how disappointing the fielding efforts by the team were.
“It was a good season for us, but it wasn’t to be this year. There could have been a lot of ifs and buts, but I think we didn’t play a perfect game, and we paid for it. It was a good campaign for us, the way we started and how we regrouped as a team and played some really, really good cricket. We had our opportunities getting to the playoffs, and we had a really good game first up. Even today, I thought we played some good cricket, except for Kings playing better cricket than us, especially with the bat,” Jayawardene said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“They were solid, especially chasing 200. It’s not that easy. They’ve executed that pretty well. We made a few blunders, obviously, with those two catchers, but that’s how the game goes. We had that luck going our way in the previous game. So I think it was a good game of cricket, and we came short. It’s as simple as that,” the Sri Lankan legend added.
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It wasn’t just about Bumrah: Jayawardene
The other topic of discussion was whether the bowling attack of the Mumbai Indians was once again carried by Bumrah, since it seemed to struggle to get breakthroughs, with the world-class bowler having a rare off day during the match. However, Mahela refused to accept that they were reliant on the star pacer, highlighting some great performances from the other bowlers.
“I thought the others, like especially Ashwini, bowled really well today, Mitch (Santner) bowled well, and then Hardik as well. So it wasn’t just about Bumrah. He was trying to get those wickets up from,t and especially the PowerPlay. Josh (Inglis) batted well. Overs 3-4, executed well, and it was a battle between that. Either you might get a wicket or them taking that advantage, and they took the advantage,” Mahela said.
