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'He has struggled a bit. I haven’t yet spoken to him but will have a conversation': Jayawardene on 23-year-old MI star
IPL 2022: While their bowling seems like a run-of-the-mill unit this year, the batting attack's recent show remains a bigger concern for Rohit Sharma and Co.
Nothing seems to be going right for Mumbai Indians this season. The five-time IPL champions are enduring their worst ever IPL season with eight consecutive defeats so far in the 10-team competition. The most successful franchise in the history of the IPL was outwitted by Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday night. While their bowling seems like a run-of-the-mill unit this year, the batting attack's recent show remains a bigger concern for Rohit Sharma and Co. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
Mumbai Indians had splurged big money on Ishan Kishan to buy back the youngster for ₹15.25 crore in the February auction. But the 23-year-old youngster has been unable to justify his staggering price tag, scoring just 199 runs in eight games at a strike rate of 108.15.
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Following their defeat versus Lucknow, Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene has hinted at few changes in the batting mix. The Sri Lankan great also said that he will have a word with Ishan, who has failed to click after scoring two fifties at the start of the season.
"He has struggled a bit, we have given him the freedom to play his natural game. I haven’t yet spoken to him today but I will have a conversation with him soon,” Jayawardene said.
While opposition skipper KL Rahul flattened Mumbai with an unbeaten 103 off 62 deliveries, Rohit scored an underwhelming 39 and the big-hitting Kieron Pollard amassed just 19. Having lost the game, MI are tottering at the bottom of the table with eight losses on the trot, and Jayawardene made no bones in admitting that they have had repeated batting failures.
"Good question. I need to review this and have a chat with the rest of the coaches as well and make some plans," said Jayawardene when asked about potential changes in the batting mix.
"Batting has been a concern for us especially on good wickets where we have batted under par. This is a senior group who understands the conditions and performed in the past. We need to keep pushing and if we need to make those changes we will do that.
"We had few changes (uptill now) but not a lot. We wanted to keep the batting consistent. Obviously there are concerns as we have not been consistent whether we are batting first or chasing totals down," he further added.
