Kept faith in my players: Ricky Ponting
Mumbai Indians Coach, Ricky Ponting, has been one of the key reasons why Mumbai Indians have made into the Finals of the IPL after four straight losses at the start of the season.
The team did the same last season as they turned things around for them and made it into the playoffs after losing five games on the trot initially. In a recent interview, the Aussie spoke about how his team managed to have faith in themselves and come out on top to reach the Final which is to be played on Sunday (May 24th).
“Yes, we did. I kept great faith in the group. A few injuries, if, anything, probably helped us almost come across this current combination. Corey Anderson going out and Aaron Finch being injured meant that Lendl Simmons came up at the top of the order.
“Then Mitchell McClenaghan joined the bowling attack. Also if you look at some of our matches, we won some really close ones, so that boosted our morale,” said Ponting.
Mumbai Indians were having a terrible season at the start of the tournament and once they got their combinations right, there was no stopping them as they won 5 games in a row.
“We just tightened up all areas after the string of losses. Simmons and Parthiv Patel began doing well and so did Lasith Malinga and McClenaghan. When you have a good opening bowling and batting combination, there's little that can go wrong.”
Ponting praises Jagadeesha Suchith and Hardik Pandya
Jagadeesha Suchith and Hardik Panya have done really well for the Mumbai Indians and played their part in crucial games to leading their team to victory Coach Ponting heaped praise on the the youngsters and said that they were nurtured well by the team management.
“We spoke to him (Suchith) about how important he was to the team and how much he was contributing to the side. Hardik is very good and loves competing. Every game he plays, it seems he's been playing top class cricket for 10 years. He has played exactly the way the team has wanted him to play. We have taken great care with all our young guys.”