All posts tagged: mahela jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardene reacts to MI’s elimination from IPL 2026 Playoffs race: ‘Not good enough’

Mahela Jayawardene reacts to MI’s elimination from IPL 2026 Playoffs race: ‘Not good enough’

Published by Webster

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene admitted the five-time champions were “not good enough” this season after their playoff hopes ended with a narrow two-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur on Sunday. “It’s disappointing, we’ve had our opportunities, we were not good enough, we were not consistent enough with the ball, with the bat and that showed the margins,” Jayawardene said after the match. “I think, you know, we were probably 2-3 wins away from being in the same group of contenders to get into that playoff, but we didn’t get those wins and today was another classic example that we were short,” he added. The MI coach said injuries and niggles disrupted the side throughout the campaign and forced several changes to the playing XI. ALSO READ | RCB on top after Bhuvneshwar’s masterclass and Krunal’s rearguard “What probably you guys didn’t know is we had a lot of injuries, a lot of niggles, guys getting injured, not available, some players were not there as well, so that was mostly forced …

Mumbai Indians not ready to drop Suryakumar Yadav, but recurring IPL 2026 struggles raise red flags

Mumbai Indians not ready to drop Suryakumar Yadav, but recurring IPL 2026 struggles raise red flags

Published by Parlour News

It was only a year ago that Suryakumar Yadav was named the MVP of IPL 2025. It wasn’t just the 717 runs at an average of 65.18 or his strike rate of 167.91. He became the first non-opener to breach the 700-run mark, doing things that only SKY could pull off. Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav walks off field after his dismissal by CSK’s Ramakrishna Ghosh during an IPL 2026 match (PTI) In the year since, he has maintained a strike rate close to 150, which by any standard is excellent in T20 cricket. But his average has dropped to 29 across competitions and, more worryingly, to just 20.33 in this IPL season. So what changed? Suryakumar’s struggles in T20 cricket over the last year have been no secret. It was a concern even before the start of this year, when India were a month away from the T20 World Cup at home. He responded with three fifties in the home series against New Zealand, followed by a match-saving 84* against the USA in the tournament …

Jayawardene defends Mumbai Indians using concussion sub for Mitchell Santner | Cricket News

Jayawardene defends Mumbai Indians using concussion sub for Mitchell Santner | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 24, 2026 11:26 AM IST One of the talking points in Mumbai’s Indians’ 103-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings on Thursday evening at the Wankhede Stadium was the home side’s use of Shardul Thakur as a “concussion substitute” after Mitchell Santner injured himself. The New Zealand captain injured himself in the 17th over of the first innings when he dived to catch CSK’s Kartik Sharma in the deep off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling. While Santner managed to hang on to the catch, the Mumbai Indians spinner injured himself in the process. Replays show that he hit the left side of his head on the ground after the same time his shoulder hit the ground hard. But in the game, the head touching the ground was not as visible as his shoulder smashing into the ground. Mitchell Santner of Mumbai Indians takes a catch to dismiss Kartik Sharma of Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2026 match at Wankhede Stadium. (Photo: Vipin Pawar / CREIMAS for IPL) At that stage, Santner had already bowled …

Mahela Jayawardene reacts to Hardik Pandya’s poor form in IPL 2026: ‘Not a concern’

Mahela Jayawardene reacts to Hardik Pandya’s poor form in IPL 2026: ‘Not a concern’

Published by Webster

4 min readApr 24, 2026 08:42 AM IST The Mumbai Indians slumped to their fifth defeat in seven matches after losing to the Chennai Super Kings by 103 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. The loss left them in eighth place on the points table with two wins in seven matches, and the prospects of making the Playoffs already hanging in the balance. A major concern for the five-time champions has been the form of captain Hardik Pandya, who has made 97 runs and taken three wickets in six matches so far in IPL 2026. Head coach Mahela Jayawardene, though, dismissed all worries of his form, adding that collectively, MI had not done so far in the tournament. “I don’t think, to be honest. It is not a concern. He started well. In the first few games with the ball, he bowled really well. Overall, as a unit, we haven’t been consistent. But we haven’t picked up early wickets, we haven’t managed to control things in the way conditions and stuff like that, so …

Why Suryakumar Yadav was used as impact sub for MI vs KKR, coach Jayawardene explains

Why Suryakumar Yadav was used as impact sub for MI vs KKR, coach Jayawardene explains

Published by Webster

2 min readMar 30, 2026 11:52 AM IST One of the early talking points about the Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2026 opener against Kolkata Knight Riders was Suryakumar Yadav being listed as an impact sub when the teams were announced on Sunday. The 35-year-old walked out to bat at Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, but managed to score only 16 off 8 balls before falling to Kartik Tyagi. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene explained the reasoning behind using Surya as an impact sub, revealing that he had a groin issue and the team wanted to give him more time to recover fully. “I hope you don’t create unwanted stories. The camp is very happy. Everyone’s happy. Sky came, joined us. He had an extra couple of days he wanted as well. He joined. He had a little tight groin. He was doing fielding and all that. I knew I had another 5 days from this game to the other game. I just wanted to give him that extra bit of time. He was even keen at the end …

‘From day one of the camp, he was very focused and fresh’

‘From day one of the camp, he was very focused and fresh’

Published by Webster

3 min readMar 30, 2026 08:27 AM IST Rohit Sharma last played a T20 in the last IPL and has since then only played ODIs for India, as well as 50-over matches for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yet, he marked his return to T20 cricket with a blistering knock of 78 runs in 38 balls for Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2026 opener against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. Elaborating on the reasons behind why the 38-year-old batted so well on Sunday, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that Rohit was focused from the very first day of the camp before the season began and was a lot calmer, with him no longer having to lead the franchise. ALSO READ | Rohit Sharma’s quickest IPL half century, Ryan Rickelton’s 81 help Mumbai Indians break 13-year opening match hoodoo “From day one of the camp, he was very focused and fresh. He had some really good practice games and simulations. I was happy with how he was hitting the ball, and I thought he …

MI kick off their IPL 2026 today but coach Mahela Jayawardene’s comments are a matter of concern for franchise and fans

MI kick off their IPL 2026 today but coach Mahela Jayawardene’s comments are a matter of concern for franchise and fans

Published by Parlour News

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) kick off their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign later tonight against Kolkata Knight Riders at home, at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indians haven’t won any IPL title since 2020 — that year they had beaten Delhi Capitals in the final — and for a team that has been so successful in the history of the league, this gap is way too big. Mahela Jayawardene doesn’t appear to have a winning mindset. (Twitter/mipaltan) In 2024, they had hit rock bottom as they finished bottom of the 10-team table. Last year, they did much better to qualify for the play-offs, but as said before, for a team that has set such high standards, anything other than the trophy is not going to satiate their passionate fans. Also Read: Right after Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock for RCB, Kaif’s viral post hints at a terrible culture in cricket nowadays However, their head coach Mahela Jayawardene propagated a totally different idea on the matter, which is unlikely to be palatable to an MI fan. “To …

Jayawardene on MI’s first-match defeats since 2013

Jayawardene on MI’s first-match defeats since 2013

Published by Webster

4 min readUpdated: Mar 29, 2026 12:39 AM IST Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes there is only one way to break the team’s 13-year opening-day ‘hoodoo’ in the IPL: play a good game of cricket. Speaking on Saturday, Jayawardene insisted that despite failing to win a season opener since 2012, the team’s preparation remains focused on execution. MI, the perennial slow-starters, last won their opening match in the IPL in April 2012, when they beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. As they gear up to take on three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders here on Sunday, the very first question Jayawardene took was whether MI would break that jinx this time around. “It is the elephant in the room but there is no way for us to prepare differently,” Jayawardene told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of MI’s training session. “If you look at the season that I was involved in, we had close matches, we lost. I think I have spoken to the boys about the intensity being there for that …

‘Fitter’ Rohit Sharma could play bigger role for MI in IPL 2026, but there’s a catch

‘Fitter’ Rohit Sharma could play bigger role for MI in IPL 2026, but there’s a catch

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Mar 17, 2026 08:48 PM IST Will Mumbai Indians use Rohit Sharma in the specialist batter-cum Impact substitute option in the 2026 IPL? Or will a fitter and slimmer version of their former captain prompt the five-time champions to alter their plans this season? As Rohit linked up with the MI squad as they hit the ground running on preparations on Tuesday, head coach Mahela Jayawardene on the potential changes in the way they will use their most successful player this time. Mumbai have not been in an IPL final for five years and captain Hardik Pandya’s takeover from Rohit hasn’t yet realised a return to the summit clash across the last two seasons. In 2025, Rohit was majorly used as an Impact Player, featuring only during MI’s batting innings. The 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain had a middling season, scoring 418 runs in 15 innings with an average under 30. Speaking at an MI Junioe 2026 event on Tuesday, Jayawardene revealed that fitness concerns meant that Rohit had to be used …

Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene on the three trades and how difficult it was to release a few younger players

Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene on the three trades and how difficult it was to release a few younger players

Published by Webster

Having returned to the playoffs in IPL 2025 and reaching Qualifier 2, Mumbai Indians – as they usually do – chose to stick with their core group and also completed three solid trades before the retention deadline for IPL 2026. For the mini auction, MI will have the least work to do, with only Rs 2.75 crore left in their purse. They released seven players from their 2025 squad: Karn Sharma, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vignesh Puthur, KL Shrijith, PSN Raju, Reece Topley and Lizaad Williams along with the trade of Arjun Tendulkar. And even before the auction, have filled in some key slots by bringing in middle-order power-hitter Sherfane Rutherfod, allrounder Shardul Thakur and legspinner Mayank Markande. Speaking about the three trades, head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that it was down to one crucial aspect: experience. “They bring a wealth of experience; you need a group of guys who can handle that pressure,” the former Sri Lanka captain said. “Sherfane brings loads of experience, he has been around for a while and been …