With Mumbai Indians out of playoffs race, it’s expected the five-time IPL champions could decide to rest their first-choice players and use their remaining five matches of the season as a prime opportunity to test bench strength. MI have had a poor IPL 2022 having lost eight of their nine matches to be placed last in the 10-team points table.
IPL FULL COVERAGE , SCHEDULE , RESULTS , ORANGE CAP , PURPLE CAP
In their squad is Arjun Tendulkar, a fast bowling allrounder and son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. The junior Tendulkar was bought by MI at the mega auction for Rs 30 lakh and this isnt the first time that the youngster has been associated with the franchise – he was part of his squad in IPL 2021 but was ruled out from the second half due to an injury.
However, the 22-year-old is yet to make his IPL debut and when the question was asked whether it’s possible for Arjun to get a game this season, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said it all depends on the combination.
“Well, I think everyone is the squad is an option,” Jayawardene said during a media interaction on Thursday. “We will see how things go. It is about match-ups and how we can win the matches and our priority is to make sure that we get the right match-ups.”
“Every game is a confidence thing, we managed to get our first win and it is about stringing wins together and get the confidence back. It is about putting the best guys in the park. If Arjun is one of them, then we will consider it, yes, but it all depends on the combination that we put out,” he added.
MI ended their run of eight defeats in a row after beating Rajasthan Royals in their previous match of IPL 2022. Jayawardene was relieved the players executed their skills well.
“It was good to see that we managed to execute our skills and finish the last game off. We were able to cross the line – we have had those opportunities earlier in the season as well – and it was a positive outcome to get points on the board. Our focus has been good and looking forward to the next game, which is a tough one against an in-form team,” the Sri Lankan observed.
The task now is to keep winning matches and continue playing as a group for the remaining five matches of their season. “We just have to win matches, play as a group. It’s been tough, we are not satisfied with our execution but everyone stuck together and worked hard. We have stayed together and believed in our abilities, so it will be the same for the rest of the season. We have to make sure we win matches and enjoy our cricket,” he said.
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates and Cricket Scores here
,