IPL 2022: 'We Haven't Played Good Cricket': Mahela Jayawardene's Honest Assessment Of Mumbai Indians' Campaign

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene spoke about his team’s performance after the side became the first team to be knocked out of the IPL 2022 season. Mumbai have lost 10 games this season and have their final league game remaining which they play on Sunday, May 22 against Delhi Capitals.

Mahela Jayawardene in an exclusive press conference said that his team did not win the crucial moments which led them to being knocked out of the tournament way earlier. Mumbai lost eight games on the trot before winning their first game of the season against Rajasthan Royals.

“But having the quality that we have in the squad, yes, you have to be brutally honest, we haven’t played good cricket,” Jayawardene said on the eve of the game against Delhi Capitals.

“Like I have said earlier, the intensity, we haven’t taken control of crucial moments in certain matches, we had that done (then) we had the confidence to get those four-five wins in a row, where we would be fighting for the play-offs

“…but it has been that kind of a season and (I am) definitely disappointed,” Jayawardene said the main concern was not handling pressure situations early on in the season.

He further said that Mumbai Indians failed to win games that they would have won easily in other seasons. Mahela said that the same would be discussed in teh build-up to the next season.

We Did Not Win Games We Should Have: Mahela Jayawardene

“There were quite a few games that we had opportunities to win, usually we do finish those games and this year, we didn’t with the bat and ball, where we lost opportunities, so that is something we will speak to the guys and make sure that they are ready for challenges going forward,” he added.

He also gave his opinion on Jofra Archer’s availability for the next season. They toped him in for 8 crores in the mega auction but a long-standing elbow injury prevented him from playing the season. Now a stress fracture has ruled him out of the English summer.

“I think to be honest, it is too far ahead. Our team of experts will keep monitoring his (Archer’s) progress. He didn’t have these injuries in the past, so it is something new.”

“Hopefully it is nothing too bad. So we will see how he progresses, but 10 months till next IPL, so there is a lot of time to assess his situation and we are hoping that he makes a strong recovery and he will be available for us next season,” he signed off.

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